Israel will work with new premier
Israel today signalled both reluctant acquiescence and disapproval of the Palestinians’ candidate for prime minister.
Aides to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said privately Israel is ready to work with the nominee, Ahmed Qureia, if he fights Palestinian militants, but other officials said they were troubled by Qureia’s close ties with Yasser Arafat.
“We are not going to cooperate with people who are doing what Arafat says,” Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz told MPs.
Israel has said it would not deal with an Arafat-backed successor to Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, who resigned over the weekend, after a power struggle with Arafat.
Qureia, meanwhile, said he will “not be under an Israeli dictate” and will only be guided by the Palestinian national interest.
He did not elaborate, but was expected to stick to Abbas’ policy of using persuasion, rather than force in dealing with the militants.
The road map peace plan requires the Palestinians to dismantle and disarm militant groups.
Raanan Gissin, a senior Sharon adviser, said the Palestinian leadership must halt violence and choose the path of peace if it wants Israel to co-operate.
“The name doesn’t matter here… the policy matters. The strategy matters,” said Gissin who is with Sharon in India.
“If they will be willing to participate in the process… they can always call us, they know the phone number.”
Sharon’s aides said Qureia could be a partner if certain conditions were met.
Qureia, who has not yet formally accepted the nomination, said negotiating a ceasefire with Israel would be the first order of business.
The nominee, who met Arafat for the second time in two days, said he will need the Palestinian leader’s backing to govern.
“I want real changes on the ground to let me work for the implementation of the road map,” he said, adding that Israel must lift its siege of Arafat, who has been confined to his West Bank headquarters for nearly two years.
Qureia, who helped negotiate interim peace accords with Israel, is the No. 3 leader in Fatah, after Arafat and Abbas.
Considered a moderate and a pragmatist, the 65-year-old has skilfully manoeuvred between Arafat and reform-minded legislators in his seven years as parliament speaker.
He is said to be a man of great charisma which has won him friendships over the years with his Israeli counterparts.
In 1999, he even accepted an invitation to visit Israel’s parliament where he met its speaker.
He is in poor health after several heart attacks and once thanked former Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres for saving his life.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Peres stayed at his side in an ambulance that took him to an Israeli hospital after one heart attack.
