Israeli Cabinet votes for boycott

JERUSALEM, March 18 (UPI) -- Israel's Cabinet voted unanimously Sunday to boycott the new Palestinian unity government.

The vote was 19-0, YNet News reported. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to join rival Hamas in the new government was an obstacle for Israel.

"Not only did he join the unity government with Hamas, which does not adhere to the international community's demands" that it recognize Israel and renounce violence, she said, "but he has also agreed to bring any diplomatic agreement for the approval of the Palestinian National Council, which will include Hamas representatives, or put it to a referendum that will include Palestinians living abroad and in refugee camps."

Vice Premier Shimon Peres said the issue of Palestinian refugees returning to Israel was a non-starter.

"Right of return means only one thing -- turning Israel into a Palestinian state," he said. "Israel still backs the concept of two states for two peoples, while Hamas is interested in one Palestinian state in the region."

Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog demanded that terrorist and rocket attacks end, and that kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit be freed.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Fatah ministers -- Abbas is a member of the Fatah faction -- should not be boycotted as they were "not members of a terror organization."