GAZA CITY/RAMALLAH, 16 March 2007 — Palestinians unveiled a new unity Cabinet yesterday that they hope will usher in a new era by ending months of deadly factional violence and a crippling international aid boycott.
Arab leaders and governments welcomed it but the West was guarded in its reaction and Israel said it would not deal with the new coalition that unites the Hamas movement with President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah group.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah congratulated Abbas on forming a national unity government. The king commended him in a telephone call during which they reviewed the situation in Palestine as well as Saudi-Palestinian relations, the Saudi Press Agency said.
After submitting the list of his new Cabinet to Abbas, the prime minister-designate, Ismail Haniyeh, said: “We hope that this government will mark the start of a new era. We are going to do everything in our power to strengthen national unity, obtain a lifting of the siege imposed on the Palestinian people and improve our links with the international community.”
The Palestinian Parliament is expected to vote on the 25-member Cabinet tomorrow.
The Middle East Quartet, comprising the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, slapped an aid freeze on the Palestinian government a year ago when Hamas, considered a terror group by Israel and the West, came to power. It has insisted that Hamas renounce violence, recognize Israel and agree to abide by past interim peace deals for the flow of funds to resume.
The EU and the United States said they would withhold judgment on the new Cabinet until they can study its platform.
“We will wait until the government is actually in place and have an understanding of what their platform will be before making any final judgment,” said State Department Sean McCormack when asked whether he had any comment on the new government.
The EU said it would stick to its wait-and-see stance, saying no decision on renewing direct ties would be taken “before we can judge the program and actions of the next government.” EU member France said the swearing-in of the new Cabinet was likely “to open a new page in relations” with the international community.
Diplomats in Brussels, however, said they were studying the option of funneling funds to the Palestinian government through the new finance minister, Salam Fayyad, a pro-Western reformer who also met US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her visit to the Palestinian territories last month.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa welcomed the formation of the Cabinet and called on the international community to immediately lift the boycott.
But Israel rejected any contacts and urged the world to do the same. “We will not recognize or deal with this government or with members of this government and we expect the international community to stand firm in their demand to adopt the three principles,” government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said.
— Additional input from agencies
