Click here to view Abbas interview in which he emphatically denies he wants Hamas or Fatah to recognize Israel.

As PMW reported last week Mahmoud Abbas continued the PA practice of saying in English what Western leaders want to hear while giving his people a diametrically opposed message in Arabic.

In this most recent case, which should have important repercussions for future US - PA relations, Mahmoud Abbas told Condoleeza Rice and the Arab world on Al-Arabiya satellite TV, contradictory messages about the essence of the conflict. He told Rice that he demands that Hamas recognize Israel, only a day after telling the Arab world that not only doesn´t Hamas have to recognize Israel but even Fatah, which he heads, is not required to recognize Israel.

Abbas: "Hamas is not required, Hamas is not required to recognize Israel... It is not required of Hamas, nor of Fatah, nor of the Popular Front to recognize Israel."

However he does demand that Hamas ministers and Fatah ministers of a future government recognize the existence of their Israeli counterparts.

Abbas: "How can this government, or these ministers, not recognize their [Israeli] counterparts, and then solve [Palestinian] people´s problems?... How can he make an agreement with him if he does not recognize him?"

PMW released this report on Oct 5 2006 without the video.

Click here to view Abbas interview in which he emphatically denies he wants Hamas or Fatah to recognize Israel.