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On Wednesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry, during his unannounced visit to Lebanon, dismissed the Syrian elections as “a great big zero”. The “elections are non-elections, the elections are a great big zero”, he told reporters in Beirut. He also defended the Washington’s decision to work with the newly-formed Palestinian unity government, saying that it did not include any Hamas ministers. The US, Israel and the EU all consider Hamas a “terrorist” organization.
Kerry added that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas “made clear that this new technocratic government is committed to the principles of non violence, negotiations, recognizing the state of Israel, acceptance of the previous agreements and the Quartet principles”.
“Based on what we know now about the composition of this technocratic government, which has no minister affiliated to Hamas and is committed to the principles that I describe, we will work with it as we need to, as appropriate”, he said.
However, Kerry added that the United States’ willingness to work with the unity government does not mean that it recognizes a Palestinian state. “The U.S. does not recognize a government with respect to Palestine because that would recognize a state and there is no state”, he said.
The new unity government took office on Monday; the United States, Russia, the EU and the UN have all agreed to work with the new cabinet. Despite its alliance with Hamas, Abbas has said that the new government will abide by the rules of the Quartet on the Middle East, which pictures the formation of two different states.
Israel is already furious with the United States’ willingness to work with the unity government, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu already branding the decision as “a step against peace” on Tuesday.
“I want to make it very clear we are going to be watching it (the government) very closely, as we have said from day one, to absolutely ensure that it upholds each of those things it has talked about, that it doesn’t cross the line”, Kerry said.