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Israel Cabinet nod for vote in East Jerusalem

Tel Aviv says Hamas will not be allowed to participate in polls

JERUSALEM: Israeli Cabinet approved on Sunday the participation of East Jerusalem residents in the January 25 Palestinian parliamentary elections.

The Cabinet passed the proposal submitted by acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to allow Palestinians in East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, to vote in the legislative elections.

This approval paved the way for holding the elections as scheduled. The Palestinians once said they would postpone the elections if East Jerusalem was excluded from the polls. Israel backed down from its previous opposition to allowing East Jerusalem to participate came under pressure from the United States, which said this could lead to resurging violence. This is the second Palestinian parliamentary election after the first one in 1996, which East Jerusalem residents participated in.

However, Mr. Olmert, who would serve as acting Prime Minister until Israel's March 28 general elections to replace the comatose Ariel Sharon, said Israel will not allow Hamas, a radical militant group sworn to Israel's destruction, to participate in the elections.

Surging popularity

Hamas boycotted the first parliamentary election in 1996, citing opposition to the Oslo Accords, but it declared participation in this year's elections.

With a surging street popularity, Hamas, a major driving force behind more than five years of Palestinian uprising against Israel, will present a tough challenge to the ruling Fatah movement led by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

A possible victory by Hamas in the elections has raised concerns from Israel, which insists that Hamas should disarm first before it begins sharing political power. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem as capital of their future independent state established on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, both captured by Israel together with East Jerusalem.

However, Israel considers the entire Jerusalem as its capital, but Israel ended its occupation in Gaza in September 2005 by withdrawing troops and all settlers from the tiny coastal strip. — Xinhua

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