With a firm position against the newly-born Palestinian national unity government, Israel is seeking a united front within the international community on a broad boycott of the Palestinian coalition.

Israel will not pursue contacts with the Palestinian coalition in its entirety, including non-Hamas ministers, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed on Sunday.

"We expect that the international community will not be misled by the creation of the coalition government and to persist with its position of isolating the government that rejects the principles set out by the Quartet," he added.

During the inauguration of the new coalition on Saturday, Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haneya (Hamas) delivered speeches heralding different agendas.

While Abbas called on Israel to engage in serious peace talks with the new coalition, Haneya said his government would support armed resistance to Israel and the right of return for thousands of Palestinian refugees.

The Israeli cabinet on Sunday voted overwhelmingly to uphold its boycott of the new Palestinian government, hoping that the Palestinians would see no way out but to adopt the Quartet's three principles.

The quartet, which groups the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia, has urged the Palestinian government to recognize Israel, renounce violence and respect the agreements signed between the Palestinians and Israel.

To avert the collapse of the international community's boycott, Israel launched a diplomatic offensive over the weekend. Officials from the Foreign Ministry told their foreign counterparts that the Palestinian unity government did not accept "the three benchmarks" required by the Quartet.

For Israel, its primary concern now is that as the EU or other Western countries begin to have official contacts with non-Hamas ministers, it could then lead to the legitimization of the unity government.

However, it is evident that Israel would be difficult to persuade even Washington to boycott Fatah or independent ministers of the Palestinian unity government.

The US consulate in Jerusalem has announced that Washington would continue to shun the Hamas ministers but permit contacts with non-Hamas members.

"There are not any conflicts between the US and Israeli position toward the new Palestinian government," Daniel Ayalon, former Israeli ambassador to the United States, told Xinhua.

He said that contacts with those non-Hamas Palestinian officials will help the US to assess the situation and this would not result in the lift of boycott or sanction, which concerns a clear stance on the whole Palestinian unity government.

The EU on Saturday even welcomed the establishment of the Palestinian unity government, though it has not recognized it, adopting a wait-and-see attitude. The EU said it would closely scrutinize the new government's platform and actions.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has identified two main trends in the EU stand. Ireland and Spain have called for an unconditional normalization of relations with the new Palestinian coalition, while the British are promoting a proposal to maintain contact with Fatah ministers only.

Meanwhile, the French Ministry has invited new Palestinian Foreign Minister Ziad Abu Amr, an independent minister, for a visit to France, noting that "it was important to send a signal of encouragement very quickly."

Ayalon held that "it is very important to keep a united position" and Israel hopes that the EU will be on the same page on this issue.

A spokeswoman for Olmert on Saturday also reiterated that Israel will not "recognize or deal with the new unity government, and expects the international community to stand strong in its demand that the new government accept the three principles."

(Xinhua News Agency March 19, 2007)