WASHINGTON, D.C. (SDJW)– The United States government was “disappointed” in the announcement of a reconciliation between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday, April 23.
The official said the United States position remains that “any Palestinian government must unambiguosly and explicity commit to nonviolence, recognition of the state of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreement and obligations between the parties.” These are conditions that thus far have been unacceptable to Hamas–which has officiallhy been labeled a terrorist group by the United States.
The reconciliation announcement could seriously undermine the efforts by Secretary of State John Kerry to forge a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians “as evidenced by the announcement by the Israelis to cancel the negotiating meeting this evening,” Psaki said.
“So this is a case where, of course, we are watching closely,” she said, adding “They’ve made similar announcements in the past before. We’ll be watching what steps are taken, but this certainly is disappointing and raises concerns about our efforts to extend the negotiations.”
Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu discussed the matter by phone, but there was no similar conversation between Kerry and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. However, American disappointment was made known to the Palestinians, Psaki said.
While declining to divulge exact details of the conversations between Kerry and Netanyahu, Psaki said: “I think the Secretary and we all understand it’s hard to see how Israel can be expected to negotiate with a government that does not believe in its right to exist. And that is one of the principles that’s long been expected.”
Whereas there previously had been efforts to keep the Israelis and the Palestinians talking beyond the April 29th deadline for their talks, Psaki said, “I think that the ball, at this point, is in the Palestinians’ court to answer these questions as to whether this reconiciliation, whether these principles would be met through that process that have been long established.”
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Preceding based on an official State Department transcript of Jen Psaki’s news briefing