US pledges to cooperate with Netanyahu gov't

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The new American administration pledged to continue cooperating with the new Israeli government to be formed by Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, expressing optimism about the future of peace talks in the Middle East. State department spokesman Gordon Duguid stated that his country is an old and constant ally to Israel and will cooperate with the new Israeli government on bilateral and regional issues In a debate organized by the Brookings institution in Washington, Martin Indyk, a former US ambassador to Israel, said that Netanyahu might avoid American pressure by seeking peace deals with Syrians and Palestinians. Indyk underlined that the unpleasant track record of Netanyahu in the 90s of the last century suggests that he would be subjected to pressure from the new American administration to move Palestinian-Israeli negotiations forward. He added that the consequences of Netanyahu 's policy at that time got him into considerable trouble with the then US president Bill Clinton and brought tensions to US-Israeli relations. For his part, Stanley Greenberg, a former advisor to Clinton, said during the debate that even though the Israeli coalition is right-wing, it does not necessarily mean halting the peace process. In another context, member of the Hamas parliamentary bloc Ayman Daraghmeh met Friday with representatives of the Carter center and discussed with them a number of issues in the Palestinian arena especially the inter-Palestinian reconciliation. MP Daraghmeh told the delegation that the internal Palestinian situation today is better after everyone became convinced that Israel does not seek peace. The lawmaker expressed hope that the international institutions especially the Carter center would assume their role towards the Palestinians through helping them to restore their usurped rights. He said that these international institutions should ask Israel to recognize the Palestinian rights, not to ask the Palestinians to recognize the occupation.