Senior Hamas officials, following their victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections, are demanding to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is slated to kick off her first visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Sunday, Israel Radio reported.However, Merkel plans to shun Hamas on her trip and will meet only with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas when she visits Ramallah on Monday, her spokesman, Ulrich Wilhelm, told reporters. "Our partner in dialogue is not Hamas, but Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian territories," Wilhelm said.
| Abbas, an army of one. |
Merkel will take a two-hour tour of Holocaust Museum of History at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, after which she will head to the West Bank, where she will meet with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
| Assuming he hasn't gone into hiding. |
Olmert will officially thank Merkel, who is considered very friendly toward Israel, for the German decision to provide Israel's navy with a new submarine
Merkel's meetings in Jerusalem will address the upheaval in the Palestinian Authority following Hamas' sweeping victory in last week's legislative elections as well as efforts to thwart the development of Iran's nuclear program.