Last update - 00:00 31/07/2007
Israel restores contacts with official PA representatives abroad
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
Israel has renewed contacts with official Palestinian Authority representatives abroad, in the wake of the formation of the Palestinian government headed by independent Salam Fayad.
Last week, the Foreign Ministry issued instructions to all its ambassadors and consuls, saying that, "In light of the new situation that has emerged in the Palestinian Authority, and the formation of the new government headed by Salam Fayad, the instructions that banned all contacts with official Palestinian diplomatic representatives have been altered.
It is allowable to resume contacts with Palestinian representatives, like in the past."
The new instructions are part of growing trend in the Foreign Ministry toward strengthening relations with the PA. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met twice last month with Fayad, the Palestinian prime minister, and other senior ministry officials have renewed contacts with senior officials in Fatah as well as in the offices of Fayad and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
There are currently 107 official PA diplomatic offices worldwide. Most Palestinian diplomats abroad have held their positions since prior to the Oslo Accords in the early 1990s, when they were considered to be the heads of Palestine Liberation Organization offices.
Even following the Oslo Accords, Israel, the United States, and European countries continued to view the offices as belonging to the PLO, in part because the Oslo Accords dictated that the PLO and not the PA would be in charge of Palestinian foreign relations.
Palestinian diplomats abroad have the standing of ambassador primarily in Arab states as well as in Asia and Africa.
The relations between Israeli and Palestinian diplomats abroad were fairly positive until Hamas came to power in January 2006. Despite the fact that none of the representatives are affiliated with Hamas, Israel nonetheless instructed its diplomats to refrain from all contacts with them, including participating in events to which they are invited as part of their job.
Following the new instructions, many of Israel's ambassadors have held meetings with the Palestinian representatives. Nonetheless, several ambassadors have informed Israel that some of the Palestinian representatives continue to express hostile views towards Israel in various forums. Last week, Foreign Ministry officials even filed a protest with senior PA officials.