Israel welcomes Clinton nomination, but mixed Palestinian reaction

Jerusalem/Ramallah/Gaza City - Israel and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Tuesday welcomed Hillary Clinton's nomination as the next US secretary of state. Abbas' staunch rival, the radical Islamic Hamas movement ruling Gaza, however, said Clinton would display the same pro-Israeli bias as it charged previous US secretaries of state had in the past. 'We don't count on any foreign policy of the American administration, especially when dealing with the Middle East and the Palestinian cause,' Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan said, adding 'there is no difference between the successive administrations.' 'We welcome this appointment,' said Saeb Erekat, a top Abbas aide and Palestinian negotiator. 'Both the (US President George) Bush and (president-elect Barack) Obama administrations are committed to the two-state solution,' Erekat told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. 'We hope that Madame Clinton will continue efforts to achieve the two-state solution.' Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert issued a statement overnight congratulating Clinton and calling her a 'friend of the state of Israel and the Jewish people.' 'I am sure that, in her new position, she will continue to advance the special Israel-US relationship,' he said. Palestinian analysts generally expressed disappointment with Obama's choice, which they said dimmed the high hopes of a fresh start generated by his election, with one of them describing the nomination as 'not good news for the Palestinians.' Clinton 'will remain subject to pressure from the pro-Israel lobbying groups, particularly in New York, where her constituency is, who normally lean to the right,' said political analyst Ghassan Khatib, of Birzeit University near Ramallah, and a former minister in Palestinian cabinets led by Abbas' Fatah party. He nevertheless added that she would be subject to White House policy and 'if there is a change in this policy, then I do not think the secretary of state can obstruct this change.' 'Under the best conditions, Obama will follow a Middle East policy similar to Bill Clinton's. But nevertheless, Hillary Clinton was not the best choice,' he told dpa. Israeli analysts generally described Clinton, 61, as a 'friend of Israel' too, but added she was ambitious and driven to succeed, even more so because, as Bill Clinton's 'heir,' she was likely to want to complete her husband's agenda of achieving Middle East peace. As such, Clinton could be strict, sharp and opinionated and whoever would be Israel's next prime minister after the February 10 elections 'had better listen to her advice and orders,' Israel's biggest-selling Yediot Ahronot daily wrote.