Rice, Sharon to discuss keeping Hamas out of elections

Israel and the United States recently began discussing the participation of Hamas in the elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council, and have raised the possibility of demanding that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas ban Hamas from running.

The matter will be discussed at a meeting Sunday between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is to arrive in Israel tomorrow.

A senior source in the Prime Minister's Bureau told Haaretz that Abbas' postponement of the elections, which had been scheduled for July 17, was related, among other things, to Israel's reservations about the participation of "a racist party that calls for the annihilation of the Jews."

The U.S. has promised Israel it will refrain from the official talks with Hamas until it renounces armed struggle and agrees to abide by legal constraints, the source said.

Another issue that will come up at Sunday's meeting is Washington's talks with the organization.

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni told U.K. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw during his visit to Israel this week that banning Hamas is the act of "a defensive democracy." In a recent meeting with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, Yahad Party chair Yossi Beilin demanded that Hamas be banned from participating in the elections if it fails to meet the terms of the Oslo II Accords and changes its charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel.

Rice will meet with Abbas in Ramallah tomorrow and will want to hear from him about progress in reforming PA security services. Rice will ask Abbas to detail the steps he intends to take to stop the firing of Qassam rockets and to ensure that the disengagement from the Gaza Strip is not accompanied by attacks by Palestinian gunmen.

Rice will try to assist the Middle East Quartet's special envoy for the disengagement, James Wolfensohn - who is expected to arrive in Israel late Sunday - in promoting the resolution of several disengagement matters that remain "open" or controversial: Control over the Rafah border crossing to Egypt; opening the airport in Dahaniya; the customs treaty; the fate of evacuated settlers' homes and hothouses; and passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Another issue still in dispute between Israel and the PA is the status of the settlement areas to be evacuated in northern Samaria, which are designated Area C (under full Israeli security and civil control).

American and Israel sources described Rice's visit as "a maintenance visit," aimed at helping to remove obstacles in the way of implementing the disengagement. Therefore, they do not think Rice will pressure Sharon to make good on his commitment to dismantle the illegal outposts and to freeze settlement expansion. The meeting between Sharon and Abbas slated to take place in Jerusalem, two days after Sharon's meeting with Rice, reduces the need for the secretary's mediation services. A substantial portion of the disengagement-related issues are also being discussed in the Israeli-Egyptian-Palestinian talks, mediated by the Egyptian intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman.

The U.S. State Department is currently taking a close look at Israeli initiatives to deepen Israeli construction in East Jerusalem and use the separation fence to distance tens of thousands of Palestinians from the city, who in most cases hold permanent residence status.

The PA will present Rice with data on Israel's expansion of settlements, contrary to its commitments under the road map peace plan. Palestinian leaders do not have high expectations from the visit, particularly in view of their growing difficulties in imposing order in areas already transfered to PA jurisdiction.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Wednesday that "the disengagement is a way to accelerate progress toward the goals of the road map and to get back into the road map. And I expect that, certainly, that is an issue that the secretary will touch on." McCormack said that while the disengagement would be the primary focus of Rice's talks, she would certainly also address "the continuing process."

Low expectations also characterize the atmosphere ahead of the Sharon-Abbas meeting. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who met Wednesday with Sharon's adviser Dov Weissglas to prepare the meeting, told Haaretz, "The time has come to move from talk to action." According to Erekat, Abbas will point out to Sharon a series of understandings the two reached at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit which have not been fulfilled to date. Erekat also said that the Palestinians will demand that Rice stop settlement construction and the demolition of homes in East Jerusalem.

Aluf Benn adds: Sharon will convene a large meeting today to discuss preparations for evacuating settlers from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria. The director general of the Prime Minister's Office, Ilan Cohen, will present the government's progress in finding temporary and permanent housing for evacuees. The plan to relocate Gush Katif evacuees to Nitzanim will also be discussed at the meeting.

Vice Premier Shimon Peres, who is on a visit to Paris, will meet tomorrow with French President Jacques Chirac to discuss the development of the Gaza Strip after the disengagement, as well as the threats posed by Hezbollah and Iran.