- Israeli-Russian relations stood at the
precipice of its most serious crisis in years Thursday night after Russian
President Vladimir Putin said he would invite Hamas for talks.
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- "You can't say you are a friend
of Israel, that you are in favor of peace in the Middle East, and at the
same time give Hamas a clean bill of health," one senior government
official said, reflecting clear anger at the Russian position.
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- Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was expected
to pass on Israel's position to the Russians at a meeting scheduled for
Thursday night in New York with the ambassadors of the five permanent members
of the UN Security Council - Russia, the US, Great Britain, France and
China.
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- Putin, in a joint press conference in
Madrid with Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, said
Thursday that Russia did not consider Hamas a terrorist organization,
and urged the global community to work with a Hamas-led Palestinian government.
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- "Hamas has arrived at the doors
of power through legitimate elections," Putin said. "We must
respect the Palestinian people and we have to look for solutions for the
Palestinian people, for the international community, and also for Israel.
Contacts with Hamas must continue."
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- Putin said Russia would invite Hamas
representatives to participate in talks in the future. Putin's remarks
come less than two weeks after Russia signed off on a Quartet statement
conditioning international support to the PA on the new government's "commitment
to the principles of non-violence, recognition of Israel, and acceptance
of previous agreements and obligations, including the Roadmap."
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- Hamas accepts none of these terms.
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- Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mark Regev
responded to Putin's remarks by saying that "Israel supports the Quartet
decision, of which Russia was a party to, that there should be no political
dialogue with Hamas until Hamas recognizes Israel, abandons terrorism,
and accepts the signed agreements."
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- One senior government official said that
the Russians needed to decide whether or not they were a constructive member
of the Quartet. "They can't have it both ways," he said. The
official also asked why when innocents are blown up by Chechens it constitutes
"terrorism," but when the same thing happens in Jerusalem "the
Russians start to make excuses."
-
-
- "Is what is forbidden for Chechens
permissible for Palestinians," the official asked. "Or is it
in fact their opinion that Russian blood is more important than Israeli
blood?"
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- Government officials expressed concern
that Russia's breaking off from the international consensus regarding Hamas
may make it easier for other countries to do the same.
-
- In fact, Zapatero said at the press conference,
"The role of the Russian federation, of President Putin, is going
to be decisive to all that affects the dialogue and the peace prospects
in the Middle East following the Palestinian elections "
-
- One senior diplomatic official said that
the Hamas victory in the Palestinian Legislative Council election had provided
the Russians with an opportunity both to differentiate themselves from
US Middle East policy, and also to move into a more central role in the
region. Russia's stature in the Arab world would rise considerably, the
official said, if everyone else boycotted Hamas, but Moscow was willing
to deal with them.
-
-
- The official said that in addition to
Israel lodging protests to Moscow through diplomatic channels, there would
also be attempts to harness US pressure on Moscow as well.
-
- Putin's comments came just a day after
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice assured Livni during talks in Washington
that the US backed Israel's conditions for dealing with Hamas, and that
it was determined to ensure that Europe remained firmly behind those conditions
as well.
-
- One official said that whereas Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon had a good personal relationship with Putin, and
open lines of communications with him, that same positive dynamic did not
exist with Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, making things more difficult
this time than they were during the last hiccup in Russian-Israeli relations
- when Russia decided to sell sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles to Damascus
last year.
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