Peres: Palestinian Govt Would Be 'Facade'

JERUSALEM - Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Wednesday that the national unity government that Palestinians are trying to establish would be nothing more than a "facade" because Hamas militants who would be represented aren't interested in peace.

The moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah Party, declared last week that efforts to form such a government had broken down. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, the militantly anti-Israel group that now leads the Palestinian Cabinet, denied negotiations had reached a dead end.

Hamas would use such a government in an effort to restore international funding that dried up after it took power, Peres said.

"Hamas doesn't want peace, even if we give them '67 borders," Peres said, referring to Israel's border before it captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. "Hamas wants to use Fatah as a facade to get money."

The talks between Abbas and Hamas foundered over the militant group's refusal to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept existing peace deals.

Peres: Palestinian Govt Would Be 'Facade'

JERUSALEM - Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Wednesday that the national unity government that Palestinians are trying to establish would be nothing more than a "facade" because Hamas militants who would be represented aren't interested in peace.

The moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah Party, declared last week that efforts to form such a government had broken down. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, the militantly anti-Israel group that now leads the Palestinian Cabinet, denied negotiations had reached a dead end.

Hamas would use such a government in an effort to restore international funding that dried up after it took power, Peres said.

"Hamas doesn't want peace, even if we give them '67 borders," Peres said, referring to Israel's border before it captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. "Hamas wants to use Fatah as a facade to get money."

The talks between Abbas and Hamas foundered over the militant group's refusal to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept existing peace deals.