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May 5, 2011

Israel: Unity Deal "A Blow to Peace" 
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Israel has rejected the Palestinian unity deal with Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling it"a tremendous blow to peace."
Israeli Vice-Premier Silvan Shalom said Israel will redouble its effort
to oppose recognition of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations.

Silvan Shalom: ''What needs to be done these days is to prevent those
efforts of the Palestinians to get the recognition in the U.N. Assembly
to have a new Palestinian state, because if we will give them the
recognition it will help the Iranians to build one more front base here
within the Middle East.''

The Obama administration has also refused to back the unity deal. In
Washington, U.S. State Department spokesperson Mark Toner called on
Hamas to accept longstanding international demands.

Mark Toner: "We've been clear all along the principles to which we think
any Hamas element in the government would have to adhere to. That is
recognition of the state of Israel, commitment to non-violence, and
acceptance of previous agreements and obligations between the parties
including the road map. We've been clear about those all along, if Hamas
wants to play a meaningful role in the political process there and
indeed in the peace process they need to adhere to these principles."

Critics have long accused the United States of hypocrisy because neither
the United States or Israel accept the same principles towards the
Palestinians. With U.S. backing, the Israeli government has refused to
recognize an independent Palestinian state in the occupied territories,
commit to non-violence and accept previous agreements such as the road
map.



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