Israel will negotiate with a Hamas-Fatah unity government if the group recognizes Israel and renounces violence, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a rare interview published Monday in a Palestinian newspaper. Olmert's interview was published as the top leaders of the emerging unity government became public. According to officials, the top three posts in the government, prime minister, foreign minister and finance minister, would be held by pragmatists who could persuade the international community to lift debilitating economic sanctions. Israel will have contacts with the government if it adopts the international community's three principles _ recognizing Israel, renouncing violence and accepting existing peace deals, Olmert told the al-Quds newspaper, an Arabic-language newspaper based in Jerusalem. «I don't think it is necessary to investigate the records of the (Hamas) ministers,» Olmert said. In the interview, Olmert again extended a hand to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, saying he would be willing to release «a large number» of Palestinian prisoners, but not before Hamas extremists release Cpl. Gilad Shalit, a soldier captured in a cross-border raid in June. «I give Palestinians my word of honor,» Olmert said. «You will see how far I will go to allow your sons to return to their houses.» Olmert again apologized for Israel's killing last week of 19 Palestinian civilians in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, the Associated Press reported. Calling the incident a «tragedy,» Olmert said it was caused by a technical problem in the artillery that fired the errant shells.
