Israel 'can't trust a govt with Hamas'

Acting prime minister Ehud Olmert has said Israel cannot trust a Palestinian leadership in which the Islamic group Hamas has a role, his office said today.

Olmert spoke as Palestinians were voting for their legislative council. Exit polls showed Hamas garnered about 58 out of 132 seats in the legislative council, second only to the ruling Fatah Party, which won 63 spots.

Hamas’ participation in the Palestinian government could jeopardise relations with Israel since the group has carried out dozens of deadly suicide bombings in Israel.

“Israel can’t accept a situation in which Hamas, in its present form as a terror group calling for the destruction of Israel, will be part of the Palestinian Authority without disarming,” Olmert told US senator Joseph Biden in a meeting yesterday, according to Olmert’s office.

“I won’t hold negotiations with a government that does not stick to its most basic obligation of fighting terror.”

Israel was willing to help the Palestinians and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas “a great deal” but only if they cracked down on terror groups, Olmert said.

Israel has repeatedly asked Abbas to force Hamas and other militant groups to disarm but Abbas has refused, warning such an act could cause civil war.