Dore Gold Rules Out Talks With Hamas

President Reuven Rivlin said recently that he would not rule out talks with Hamas, but Dore Gold sees it differently.

Gold, the incoming director general of the Foreign Ministry and former ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters at the Yerushalayim Center for Public Affairs think-tank that “there is no question that Hamas is part of the jihadist universe.”

As such, “it is not a candidate to become a political partner,” he said.

“I have no aversion to holding negotiations with anyone who is prepared to negotiate with me,” Gold said, but asserted that Hamas did not qualify.

“Hamas has been rigidly ideological and refuses to jettison the Hamas charter and its ideological positions,” Gold said, referring to its vow to destroy Israel and refusal to give up on terrorist violence to achieve its aims.

Gold also accused Hamas of allowing al-Qaida- linked groups to operate inside Gaza.

“Some people try to portray the al-Qaida affiliates that operate in Gaza as opposition to Hamas,” he said. “I believe that Hamas fully acquiesces to their presence in the territory.”

This article appeared in print on page 6 of the June 2nd, 2015 edition of Hamodia.