Israel Matzav

This should make Israelis feel really secure about a 'deal' with the 'Palestinians.'

Any agreement the Palestinian Authority might reach with Israel would be subject to significant changes, a senior Hamas official has told the American newspaper The Forward.

Moussa Abu Marzouk said in an interview to be published next Friday that if Hamas came to power, any treaty would be an interim truce, a hudna, not a permanent accord. This would be the case even if a referendum ratified the deal.

Marzouk's statements reflect a harder line than the stance of the group's political leader, Khaled Meshal, who is seen as Marzouk's main rival.

Meshal has repeatedly said Hamas would honor any agreement signed between the PA and Israel if the Palestinian people supported it.

...

The Forward's assistant managing editor, Larry Cohler-Esses, met Marzouk in Cairo, where the Hamas leader moved after leaving Damascus.

Marzouk, 61, said his organization would not recognize Israel as a state. "It will be like the relationship between Lebanon and Israel or Syria and Israel," he said. This means a cease-fire rather than a peace treaty as Israel has with Jordan or Egypt.

Cohler-Esses told Haaretz the interview had been arranged by the Hamas official's American attorney Stanley Cohen.

"On a personal level he was very interesting with a sense of humor. But I was certainly not optimistic after the things he said," Cohler-Esses said.

Labels: Hamas, Middle East peace process

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:41 AM