On Sunday, Israel officially rejected the Mecca agreement on a Palestinian National Unity government and considered it out of line with the Quartet Middle East mediators’ condition, an Israeli online daily reported. The Israeli government said that the new collation government deal failed to recognize Israel, renounce violence and did not accept the signed peace agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).
Israel also said that this new coalition government failed to recognize the Road Map Plan, although Israel itself conditioned fundamental changes to the Plan in order to accept it.
Senior Israeli sources said that Israel would insist on these conditions, and will reiterate these demands during the trilateral summit between the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and the U.S secretary of state Condoleezza Rice next Monday.
The sources added that the Israeli rejection of the deal will not affect the expected summit, especially since the Palestinian government will not be formed by Monday.
Israel argues that the new Palestinian government would not accept the conditions of the Quartet, even by implication, the Israeli online daily reported.
A senior Israeli official said that Israel had a clear distinction between Abbas and the Hamas-led government, but now since Fateh is entering the coalition the distinction might not exist.
Yet, Israel is still weighing up the possibility of transfering the funds to the new Palestinian Minister of Finance. Salaam Fayyad, the new finance minister, is respected by the United States and the International Community.
Meanwhile, Israel continued to carry out international efforts to prevent international recognition of the new government.
