JERUSALEM, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Israeli officials on Monday night expressed their disappointment over the United States' willingness to work with the new Palestinian unity government, the Ha'aretz daily reported.
"We are deeply disappointed by the comments made by the State Department regarding working with the Palestinian unity government," the paper quoted Israeli officials as saying.
"The Palestinian government is backed by Hamas, a terrorist organization committed to destruction of Israel," the officials said.
"If the U.S. administration wants to advance peace, it should be calling on Abbas to end his pact with Hamas and return to peace talks with Israel. Instead, it is enabling Abbas to believe it is acceptable to form a government with a terror organization," they added.
Earlier on Monday, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a press briefing that the United States would work with the new Palestinian government, but will keep a close eye to make sure it stands up to its commitments to renounce terrorism, recognize Israel and uphold previous agreements with it.
The Israeli security and diplomatic cabinet announced on Monday afternoon its decision to uphold its April 24 decision to suspend negotiations with the Palestinians, as long as there is a Hamas-backed government in place.
The cabinet also authorized the prime minister to "impose further sanctions against the Palestinian (National) Authority, and hold the Palestinian government responsible for any attacks against Israelis originating from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip."
On Sunday night, the cabinet decided to impose economic sanctions and reallocate tax money it collected on behalf of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), in order to pay off the authority's debts to Israeli companies.
Netanyahu urged the international community not to go ahead and recognize the Palestinian unity government, saying at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday morning that the recently achieved unity would "not strengthen peace but rather strengthen terrorism."
On Monday, Abbas said in Ramallah that the Palestinian unity government consists of technocrats not affiliated with political parties, who accept past agreements with Israel and also denounce terrorism.
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