U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday she has "seen nothing to date" that indicates the new Palestinian unity government will renounce terrorism and recognize Israel. Those are the key conditions set by the Mideast Quartet -- the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations -- for the resumption of international aid to the Palestinian government.Rice spoke to reporters shortly after her meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem, who said earlier in the day that the Israeli and U.S. positions regarding the new Palestinian government are "completely identical."
Earlier in the day, Rice met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, West Bank, for just over two hours, most of it without the presence of aides. Sunday's one-on-one discussions are laying the groundwork for Monday's three-way talks in Jerusalem. (Watch why Rice's visit comes at a difficult time )
Despite agreeing to share power with more moderate Fatah politicians -- including Abbas -- the ruling Hamas party, which took power a year ago, has refused to negotiate its hardline stance against Israel. That position has cost the Palestinian government and people millions of dollars of international aid from the United States and the European Union. Aid has flowed through nongovernmental organizations, but the government has been largely financially crippled. The government was already facing financial difficulties. Hamas ran its winning campaign last year largely on a promise to clean up Fatah's corruption.
Hamas' victory has also further complicated the long-stalled peace talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. Addressing reporters before her meeting with Abbas, Rice thanked him for his "personal commitment to peace and understanding which has led the Palestinian people to international agreements that recognize the importance of the two-state solution and all that comes along with that." Rice said she hoped Monday's trilateral talks will "be an opportunity ... to recommit to existing agreements and begin to explore and probe the diplomatic horizon."
For his part, Abbas expressed his "admiration" for Rice's diplomatic efforts and said that he and Rice would be discussing the political horizon and Israeli-Palestinian issues. "Most importantly, we will discuss issues of peace," he added.
Rice flew to Israel from Baghdad, Iraq, where she had made an unannounced stop to check on the security situation. Saturday, she met with her Israeli counterpart, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who voiced her support of Rice's position, saying that "the path toward a Palestinian state goes through renunciation of terrorism and violence."