Israeli officials slam new European policy on Hamas

Israeli officials have slammed the European Union's new policy of permitting contacts with Hamas, as first reported in Haaretz yesterday.

"Any action that is liable to be interpreted as legitimizing terror cannot help to advance peace," said one official yesterday in a typical response. "Contacts with Hamas call into question the judgment and moral clarity of those who choose to hold them."

Under the new policy, EU observers monitoring the Palestinian Authority's upcoming parliamentary elections will be allowed to meet with candidates from Hamas.

Israel is demanding that the EU, which defines Hamas as a terrorist organization, at least set conditions for such meetings - for instance, that the candidate renounce violence and recognize Israel's existence - just as the United States did when it began holding contacts with the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Dutch Ambassador to Israel Bob Hiensch, who also represents the current EU president, Luxembourg, denied that EU policy on Hamas has changed. "We are not holding a political dialogue with Hamas, not now and not in the future," he said. "But if and when elections for the Palestinian parliament take place, the EU's delegation of observers will be in contact with all the candidates. If there is a need, they will be in contact with Hamas candidates, but only regarding the election, and at the lowest level."

He added that the EU has consistently demanded that Hamas end its violence and recognize Israel's right to exist, and EU observers would reiterate these demands at any meetings with Hamas candidates, though such meetings would not be conditional on the candidates fulfilling these demands.

But a senior EU diplomat told Haaretz that these meetings do represent a change in EU policy. Meetings with candidates are not a technical matter, like meetings with elected Hamas mayors, he said, because preelection meetings can be construed as a show of support. "The observers' job is to monitor the process and keep in touch with the elections commission, but not necessarily to make contact with the candidates," he said.