Jerusalem – The militant Islamic group Hamas moved closer to controlling the Palestinian government Wednesday, calling a special session of parliament to approve its new Cabinet despite objections from President Mahmoud Abbas over its refusal to recognize Israel.
Abbas plans to state his complaints but in the end will give his blessing to the new Hamas governing team, an official said.
Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert kept up the pressure on Hamas, telling a TV station six days before Israel’s election that if there are no talks with the Palestinians, Israel will draw its own borders, annexing main settlement areas. Hamas and Israel rule out talks with each other.
“We have to solve the problem ourselves, not to become a hostage to the Palestinians to decide when things will happen and what will happen,” Olmert told the TV station.
Incoming Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said lawmakers would convene Saturday to approve the new Cabinet. The outcome is inevitable since Hamas won 72 of the 132 seats in the Jan. 25 parliamentary election, trouncing Abbas’ Fatah.
Haniyeh is forming a Cabinet with 24 Hamas activists and experts after no other party agreed to join.
Hamas wanted Fatah in the government, partly to deflect world criticism of Hamas.
Israel, the United States and the European Union consider Hamas a terrorist group and have threatened to cut off hundreds of millions of dollars of vitally needed aid if Hamas does not renounce violence and recognize Israel.
However, Fatah declined to participate, apparently hoping the Hamas government will fail and that the people will restore Fatah to power.
Abbas inserted an extra stage in the approval process – putting the Hamas Cabinet and platform before the Fatah-dominated PLO Executive Committee. Predictably, the body refused to endorse them in a meeting Wednesday.
“We decided that we can’t deal with the platform of this government or accept it because the platform neglects the main achievement of the Palestinian people, which is the PLO,” said PLO official Yasser Abed Rabbo.
However, Abbas does not have the authority to veto the Cabinet or its platform. Abbas was elected president in January 2005 and has three more years to serve, regardless of the makeup of the parliament.
Incoming Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas official, said the debate over Hamas’ governing program was over.
“Nobody can make demands on us at this moment,” he said.
The main points of contention between the two are the status of the PLO and endorsement of interim peace accords.
Hamas’ program also refuses to recognize a 1988 unilateral Palestinian declaration of independence that included a recognition of Israel.
