White House said ready to work with PA (Palestinian Authority) unity government

TEL AVIV — A senior official in the White House reportedly said the US would cooperate with a soon-to-be-formed Palestinian unity government, despite Israeli opposition.

A unity government is set to be established within a week by Fatah, which controls the West Bank’s Palestinian areas, and Hamas, the terrorist group that governs Gaza. United States policy is not to work with Hamas unless it recognizes Israel, commits to nonviolence and abides by previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements.

Although it will have Hamas’s support, the new government will be made up of technocrats, rather than representatives of Hamas or Fatah. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said that the new government will abide by the conditions mandated by the US.

An anonymous senior White House official told the Haaretz newspaper on Tuesday that the US would work with the new government as long as it abides by the conditions, even if it has Hamas’s support. A meeting of 28 European Union foreign ministers last week took a similar position.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/white-house-said-ready-to-work-with-pa-unity-government/