Merkel rules out talks during visit to Israel

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Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, found herself in the awkward position yesterday of being the first European leader to visit Israel since the landslide victory of the radical-Islamic Hamas party in the Palestinian elections.

What had been intended as the recently elected Chancellor's routine courtesy trip to Israel has become a visit heavy with significance. Clearly at pains not to inflame an already precarious political situation, Ms Merkel ruled out the idea of meeting Hamas leaders, despite reports that the organisation's leaders had expressed an interest in the idea.

German political parties demanded that Ms Merkel, who is due to meet the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today, uphold decades of post-war German foreign policy towards Israel."Ms Merkel must show that Germany stands side by side with Israel and that it remains committed to a two-state solution on the Palestinian issue," said Niels Annen, foreign policy spokesman for Ms Merkel's Social Democrat coalition partners.

Germany is the largest net contributor to the Palestinian cause, and Ms Merkel's spokesman made it clear that future financial support would depend on the next Palestinian government renouncing violence and recognising Israel's right to exist.

Schimon Stein, the Israeli ambassador to Germany, said Ms Merkel should remind Mr Abbas of his commitment to disarm "terrorist organisations" during their meeting today. Ms Merkel met the acting Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, yesterday and is due today to meet other Israeli leaders, including the Likud Party leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Labour Party leader, Amir Peretz, before visiting Yad Vashem, Israel's memorial to the Holocaust.