Israel should negotiate with the planned Fatah-Hamas Palestinian unity government only and if it renounces terror activities and recognizes Israel, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Israel Radio on Thursday.
The rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas came to a historic agreement on Wednesday, when they announced a decision to reconcile and form an interim government ahead of elections, after a four-year feud. Both sides hailed the agreement as a chance to start a fresh page in their national history.
Talking to Israel Radio later Thursday, the defense minister said that Israel could resume negotiations and contacts with the newly formed interim unity government only if it "dismantles terror infrastructures, and recognizes Israel as well as the PLOs past agreements" with Israel.
Barak admitted in the interview to estimating that there was a low probability for the rival Palestinian factions to reconcile their long-standing differences, adding that he felt Palestinian officials were also skeptical as to the efforts' chances.
Barak's comments concerning the burgeoning agreement came after Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Thursday that a reconciliation deal could result in Hamas' takeover of the currently PA-ruled West Bank.
Speaking to Army Radio on Thursday, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman expressed fears that Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, would eventually take over the Palestinian Authority-ruled West Bank as well, using, among other things, freed Hamas activists.
"One of the agreement's clauses is the freeing hundreds of Hamas prisoners from Palestinian jails, which would flood the West Bank with armed terrorists and the IDF must prepare accordingly," Lieberman said.
Referring to what he felt was the context which led to the reconciliation deal, Lieberman said "the agreement between Hamas and Fatah was born out of panic," estimating that the move was the factions' reaction to recent Mideast turmoil.
The Foreign Minister added he felt Hamas was pressured by recent Syrian unrest, saying that Hamas politburo Khaled Meshal "sees his patron, Syrian President Bashar Assad, shooting up the mosques and is distressed by the riots."
"On the other side, [Palestinian President Mahmoud] Abbas, who has been relying for years on ousted Egyptian President [Hosni] Mubarak is fears that the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas' parent group, will take power and he would lose his support," Lieberman said.
Speaking of the possible backlash to the deal, Lieberman said he expected the international community to respond accordingly, saying: "This agreement crosses a red line, Hamas has been defined as a terrorist organization by the Quartet since 2003 in addition to the fact that it has always been known that no talks can be held with groups calling for Israel's destruction."