Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is ready to bring down Hamas' incoming government if its policies harm Palestinian interests, a senior aide said on Saturday.
In a letter to Hamas' designated prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, Abbas said that if the new cabinet, which is to be sworn in Thursday, "adopts positions that would be detrimental to Palestinian interests, then the president will use his authority according to the Basic Law," the aide, Tayeb Abdel Rahim, told reporters, according to the AP.
The Basic Law empowers the president to disband the government.
Abbas intends to warn the incoming government led by Hamas that it has no future unless it agrees to recognize Israel, The Guardian reported Saturday.
The British newspaper said the letter told Haniyeh that Hamas' policies would damage or reverse "diplomatic achievements," give Israel a pretext not to negotiate, and cost the Palestinian Authority much-needed foreign aid.
