Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in no uncertain terms Sunday on Face the Nation that he would never negotiate with the Palestinians when they were backed by the terrorist organization Hamas.
Netanyahu urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to "tear up" his pact with Hamas should he seriously want to seek peace talks.
"I'm saying something very clear," he said. "As long as I'm Prime Minister of Israel, we will not negotiate with a government that is backed by Hamas, an organization that is committed to our destruction. It's common sense, of course. I mean, you want to make peace with an enemy, but only with an enemy that's decided to make peace. An enemy that seeks your destruction, what are we going to talk about? The method of our self-annihilation? It just doesn't make sense."
Netanyahu pointed out that the United States would never have serious talks with a government that had an agreement with the al Qaeda terrorist network.
"You wouldn't negotiate with a government that would be backed by al Qaeda, that seeks to destroy the United States," he said. "You wouldn't do that, you wouldn't expect us to do that. And I think those who are suggesting that are really offering something that can't be accepted."
Earlier on CNN, Netanyahu said that Abbas' recent comments condemning the destruction of the Holocaust were an attempt at "damage control."
Full exchange:
BOB SCHIEFFER: Are you saying, sir, that there can be no discussion with the PLO as long as Hamas is a part of it?
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: I'm saying something very clear. As long as I'm Prime Minister of Israel, we will not negotiate with a government that is backed by Hamas, an organization that is committed to our destruction. It's common sense, of course. I mean, you want to make peace with an enemy, but only with an enemy that's decided to make peace. An enemy that seeks your destruction, what are we going to talk about? The method of our self-annihilation? It just doesn't make sense.