By Haaretz Editorial, 20.03.07

The government of Israel can and should cooperate with the new Palestinian government. With all the significance of the complex and contradictory formulations of this government's political platform, what is much more important, what should determine Israel's attitude toward the Palestinian government, are its actions. Israel does not have to wait to see what countries lift the boycott of the Palestinian Authority following the establishment of the unity government. Even if the boycott is morally justified since Hamas remains adamant in its refusal to recognize Israel, there is room to examine the advantages of the new situation. One of these is that full authority has been handed over to PA Chair Mahmoud Abbas to negotiate a political agreement with Israel.

Abbas and the members of his government should be seen to be at the very center of the negotiation process. The Palestinians expect their new government to stop the violence between the various factions and to improve the level of services in the PA - and this can happen, among other things, with the help of the money that belongs to the Palestinians, which Israel has confiscated and should be returned.

In contrast, Israel expects the new government to stop the actions it is taking against the country, to dismantle the terror infrastructure and to act immediately for the release of Gilad Shalit. The Shin Bet security service and the Israel Defense Forces have obviously not stopped their activities against terror and rocket fire, but at the same time, a path to dialogue should be forged. If the Israeli response to this government is a large-scale military operation in Gaza, as some spokespeople on the right have proposed - then Palestinian unity will coalesce around the struggle against the IDF. That is not the "glue" for which Israel should be hoping.

The demand for recognition and for a cessation of the violence is a legitimate one, but declarations are less important than actions on the ground. The trips abroad by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, seeking partners for the continued boycott, apparently will be of no help. Governments weigh their independent interests, and in the face of the Saudi initiative which pledges to lower the level of heat in the Middle East, it is difficult to persuade the world to keep blacklisting the Haniyeh-Abbas government.

The Palestinian unity government deserves a chance, and its very establishment is a positive sign, even if its platform is far from satisfactory as far as Israel is concerned. The massive weaponry in Gaza the Shin Bet has reported seeing may give rise to hesitations, but such weaponry is also present in Israel, and across the border in Syria, Lebanon and Egypt. Israel must do its best to ensure that no weapon will be used, and the way to achieve this is through dialogue. Even a cease-fire of many years' duration, as Hamas proposes, is a better offer than an ongoing war, for which we must always be prepared.