Israel refuses peace talks with Palestinian coalition government

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel on Tuesday ruled out holding Mideast peace talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas once he forms a coalition with Hamas militants, saying the new unity government must give in to international demands to recognize Israel's right to exist.
Hoping to find a way to persuade Hamas to moderate its hard-line position, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought the advice of Arab security chiefs in Jordan on how to proceed, Arab officials said.
The unity government deal between the Islamic Hamas and Abbas' more moderate Fatah Party fell far short of the conditions set for restoring desperately needed foreign aid to the Palestinians, according to Israel and the United States.
Discussion of the government overshadowed talks Monday between Rice, Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that were initially billed as the beginning of a new peace push.
Rice and Abbas met separately in Amman on Tuesday with Jordan's King Abdullah II, and Abbas said after the meeting that the summit Monday had been "tense and difficult" but that "it was not a failure, and it will be followed by other meetings."
Abbas planned to fly to Germany, Britain and France on a campaign to convince European leaders -- whom the Palestinians hope are wavering on the economic boycott -- that the unity deal was a major victory that should be rewarded.
Abbas said Israel may have "misunderstood" the coalition deal, which "was made to protect the unity of the Palestinian people and its national interests," according to Jordan's official Petra news agency.
But Israel remained adamant.
"The agreements between Hamas and Abu Mazen disappoint all who supported separating the extremists from the moderates and creating an alternative government in the Palestinian Authority," Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Tuesday, referring to Abbas by his nickname.
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