Former top statesmen: Hamas needed for peace
Peace only possible with Hamas on board say 24 ex-officials, including Israel's Ben-Ami
A lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians is only possible if Hamas is involved, a group of former top statesmen and diplomats said in a letter made public on Friday.
Former Israeli foreign minister Shlomo Ben-Ami and veteran Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi also signed the letter.
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In the letter, which is addressed to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton, 24 former international figures warned against the dangers of rejecting a recent Palestinian unity deal aimed at ending years of bad blood between the secular Fatah faction and Gaza's Hamas rulers.
Israel slammed the deal as a "great victory for terrorism" in a move which found echoes in Washington, with US President Barack Obama describing it as "an enormous obstacle to peace."
But the letter argued that lasting peace would only be possible with a unified Palestinian leadership, which made reconciliation "a prerequisite" for ending the conflict.
"Reconciliation is... a prerequisite for achieving the two-state solution. It is not an obstacle to it," it said, taking aim at remarks by Israel's premier Benjamin Netanyahu in which he urged Palestinian president and Fatah leader Mahmud Abbas to choose between peace with Hamas and peace with Israel.
"Asking Fatah to choose between making peace with Hamas and making peace with Israel presents a false choice: a lasting peace with Israel is only possible if Hamas is on board," it said.
"As former international leaders and peace negotiators, we have learnt first-hand that achieving a durable peace requires an inclusive approach," the signatories say.
Rather than being a threat to Israel, the unity deal could enhance its security by helping "consolidate a ceasefire" along the Gaza border, and even help towards securing the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was captured by Gaza militants in 2006 and is still being held there, the letter said.
Among the signatories are four former EU prime ministers, including Italy's Massimo D'Alema and Denmark's Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, and 11 ex-foreign ministers, including Hubert Vedrine of France and Gareth Evans of Australia.
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