JERUSALEM - Israel renewed its attack on the European Union on Monday for opening contacts with Hamas, saying even low-level talks legitimised the radical Palestinian organisation which is on an EU terror blacklist.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said any talks with the movement -- behind the bulk of anti-Israeli attacks during the Palestinian uprising -- were unacceptable. âAny European government or organisation which maintains even low-level contacts with Hamas must know that they are speaking with and according legitimacy to an organisation which is seeking the destruction of the state of Israel,â he said in a statement following talks with his Romanian counterpart Razvan Ungureanu.
| Which, unfortunately, is the European position. |
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, whose country has just assumed the revolving presidency of the European Union, recently revealed that London had held talks with newly elected Hamas mayors. Straw said, however, that Hamas would remain designated a terrorist organisation until it turned its back on violence and ceased âseeking the destruction of Israelâ.
The EU special envoy to the Middle East, Marc Otte, also acknowledged contacts with Hamas last week, saying that they had been limited to mayors, community leaders and private citizens.
| "People of no account, people with only one AK-47, people who pay full retail for their grenades, you know, low-level contacts," Mr. Otte added. |
Shalom has previously said that talks with Hamas would undermine peace efforts. |