Carter's comments on Hamas deal 'unrealistic'

Occupied Jerusalem: The statements by former US President Jimmy Carter on Hamas' readiness to recognise Israel's right to live in peace if a deal is reached and approved by a Palestinian vote were met with different reactions by Israeli officials.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert refused to comment on Carter's statements.

"It is better not to comment on Carter's statements until the picture becomes clearer and we coordinate our stand with the US administration," an official from Olmert's office told Gulf News.

However, other Israeli officials expressed clearer positions.

"Carter's meetings with Hamas leaders do not mirror the stand of the US administration, which opposes such a move," Shoal Mofaz, Israeli Transport Minister and former Defence Minister, told Israeli Radio.

"Any agreement reached with Hamas will not be effective, because Carter does not have the authority to put it into force," Mofaz said. "Carter's meetings and statements can only be described as unrealistic and will not be successful."

Major shift

Ron Cohen from the leftist Meretz Party said Carter's statements indicated a major shift in Hamas' stand.

"It might be behind a real launch [for peace negotiations] once the Israeli government decides to give it a chance, study it and negotiate."

Carter held two meetings in Damascus with exiled Hamas chief Khalid Meshaal. This angered Israel and the US which considers the movement a terror group. He made his statements in a speech at the Israeli Council on Foreign Relations think-tank.

"They said they would accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders if approved by Palestinians and that they would accept the right of Israel to live as a neighbour, next door, in peace," Carter told the think-tank.

Earlier, upon his arrival in occupied Jerusalem, Carter met the father of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier abducted by Hamas. Carter also met Minister Elie Yashay, Chief of the religious Israeli Shas party. According to diplomatic sources, Carter asked Yashay whether he represented the Israeli government and could negotiate on its behalf.

Yashay said there were Israeli official channels dealing with the abducted soldier's issue and the ceasefire with Hamas, but he was willing to offer any possible help. According to Yashay, Carter briefed him on the changing stand of Hamas, but said it was still to be examined on the ground. Yashay undertook to organise talks between Jewish and Muslim clerics, in an attempt to bring their views closer.

Israeli analysts and media hinted that there was a possibility of a new round of negotiations starting on the truce and prisoner swap deal for Shalit between Hamas and Israel through an Egyptian mediator.

This was welcomed by the Palestinian National Authority, according to Saeb Oraikat, Head of the Negotiations Department, who told Gulf News the authority had called many times for a comprehensive truce in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. "It will help lift the siege imposed by Israel on the Palestinian people," he said.