Likud, the right-wing party trailing ahead of a March 28 Israeli election, rejected Sunday any Palestinian state led by Hamas, as the radical Islamic group continued its refusal to renounce violence.
Hamas, which won elections in January, unveiled a proposed government programme Saturday that does not renounce its commitment to destroying Israel but says recognition of it is "a decision for the Palestinian people".
Speaking to the Yediot Aharonot daily, which Sunday published an outline of the Likud campaign platform, party leader and former premier Benjamin Netanyahu asked: "Should I be talking about concessions when the Hamas government is in power?"
"At the moment there is nothing to be done and we need to fight Hamas. As long as Hamas is in control, we will not return any territory to them, we will not transfer any money to them and we will not allow Palestinian workers to work in Israel. Our platform will be revised according to circumstances."
In the same vein, the Likud platform argues that the internationally drafted roadmap peace plan, in which a Palestinian state would live alongside Israel in peace, is a dead letter.
"The continued outline of the roadmap is impossible in light of the absence of a legitimate partner," it said.
That was echoed by a senior official in the office of Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, whose Kadima party is favoured to win the election.
"Unfortunately, Hamas is suppressing any hope of progress with respect to a negotiated settlement," he told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhari said Netanyahu's comments prove "a war is being carried out against out people, and our program is to resist to obtain our rights."
Israel, the United States and the European Union have all conditioned any dealings with a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority on its renouncing violence, recognising Israel and honouring past agreements with the Jewish state.
And so has moderate Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, whose Fatah party has so far refused to agree to join a coalition government. Fatah's parliamentary chief Azam al-Ahmed told AFP on Saturday: "We have rejected their government programme because it did not meet president Mahmud Abbas's demands.
In its programme, published late Saturday, Hamas continues to refer to Israel as an "occupying power", which, in the West Bank and east Jerusalem at least, it is.
It says the "question of recognising Israel is not the jurisdiction of one faction, nor the government, but a decision for the Palestinian people."
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