The United States and Israel said here Wednesday that the proposed Palestinian unity government will not draw international acceptance unless the coalition renounces terrorism and accepts Israel's right to exist.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Wednesday met and reached a consensus with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on the issue.

Referring to efforts by the ruling Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the moderate Fatah party to form a coalition Palestinian government, Rice said "We will see what the outcome is here."

Rice said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "is someone with whom we can work and with whom we are working."

But the U.S. top diplomat noted that a Palestinian coalition must adhere to internationally accepted principles of recognizing Israel, renouncing violence and accepting previous agreements between Palestinians and the Israelis.

"It's hard to have a partner for peace if you don't accept the right of the other partner to exist," Rice said.

Sharing with Rice's remarks, Livni said Abbas "has to decide whether the Palestinian authority will operate on his terms or on the terrorists' terms."

Hamas is sworn to Israel's destruction and has said any negotiations with the Jewish state would be pointless.

Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the radical Hamas group, agreed on Monday that their moderate Fatah and militant Hamas parties would form a coalition government in a bid to overcome current economic and political crises.

Source: Xinhua