AL QUDS, Feb 12: Israel’s foreign minister on Sunday criticized Russia’s invitation for Hamas leaders to visit Moscow for talks and urged the international community to stand firm in its rejection of the militant group, despite its victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections last month.

But Israeli officials said they did not plan a harsh response to the invitation, preferring to work to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to maintain the strong international pressure on Hamas.

The invitation was Russia’s latest effort to assert itself in Mideast peacemaking. It came as Western countries insisted they would not deal with a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority — and threatened to withhold crucial aid to the cash-strapped government — unless the group recognized Israel and renounced violence.

France said it hoped Russia could help lead Hamas to accept a two-state solution to the conflict. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Russia to send Hamas a clear message that it must stop terror attacks.

Hamas, which has carried out scores of deadly attacks against Israelis in recent years, calls for the destruction of the Jewish state and its replacement with an Islamic nation. It is listed as a terror organization by the European Union and the United States.

Israel’s acting prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said Israel would not deal with the incoming Palestinian government, even if Hamas stacks it with professionals with no connection to the group.

“Israel’s position is clear,” Olmert told his Cabinet on Sunday, according to a participant in the meeting. “The moment the Palestinian parliament is sworn in, the Palestinian Authority becomes a Hamas Authority.”

Parliament is to be sworn in Thursday, and Hamas expects to form a new Cabinet in the coming weeks.

In anticipation of that, Putin extended his invitation to Hamas last week, and Hamas leaders said they plan to travel to Moscow later this month.

Russia’s envoy to the Palestinians, Alexey Pogodin, met Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday and told reporters that Moscow would urge Hamas to moderate its stance to Israel.

The invitation infuriated Israel, and acting Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni warned against legitimizing Hamas.

“The Russian position is currently not accepted in the international community,” she told Israel Radio on Sunday. “Part of the danger is going down the slippery slope of first talking, then starting to understand why, then supporting with money, then granting legitimacy. This is a phenomenon that needs to be acted against.”

Hamas has said it would agree to a long-term truce if Israel reciprocates. But Livni cautioned against reading too much into the group’s vague commitments. “There is no negotiation here with Hamas about what it will and will not agree to,” she said. “The conditions here are very clear, the situation is black and white.”

Cabinet Minister Tzahi Hanegbi said Israel would try to persuade Putin that breaking with the major Western nations on Hamas “will diminish the efforts to make sure that Palestinians will not adopt the values and behaviour of a terrorist organization.”

But Russia’s invitation would not cause a diplomatic breach with Israel, he said. “We believe in dialogue, we believe in trying to convince, and we are not going to take any harsh measures,” he said.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov invited his Israeli counterpart, Shaul Mofaz, to Moscow to discuss the issue, but Mofaz hasn’t decided whether to go, Israel’s Defence Ministry said. The two men met on Saturday on the sidelines of a Nato meeting.—AP