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Almost half of Israelis say talk to Hamas: poll

Posted on: Friday, 27 January 2006, 02:06 CST

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Almost half of Israelis think Israel should talk to a Palestinian government dominated by the Islamic militant group Hamas, which won a parliamentary majority in elections, an opinion poll showed on Friday.

On Thursday, Israel's acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ruled out any talks with a government involving Hamas, which is sworn to the Jewish state's destruction and has been behind dozens of suicide bombings.

The opinion poll in the Yedioth Ahronoth daily newspaper showed 48 percent of Israelis favored talking to a Hamas-led Palestinian government, while 43 percent were opposed.

The survey was conducted before preliminary election results were announced on Thursday.

Hamas's triumph in winning 76 seats in the 132-member Palestinian parliament against 43 for the long-dominant Fatah party was widely seen as a political earthquake in the Middle East, triggered by voter disenchantment with corruption.

International peace broking in the Middle East was plunged into turmoil by Hamas's shock win and a vow by U.S. President George W. Bush not to deal with the Islamic group until it renounced violence against Israel.

Many world leaders turned up the heat on Hamas to moderate its policies.

"I have made it very clear .. that a political party that articulates the destruction of Israel as part of a platform is a party with which we will not deal," Bush told a news conference in Washington.

Source: REUTERS

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