Middle East: The Israeli government intends to initiate talks with new Palestinian Prime Minister, Mr Ahmed Korei, who was sworn in yesterday along with his new government, writes Peter Hirschberg in Jerusalem
The government has said it will grant him a "grace period," even though control of the Palestinian security forces remains firmly with Palestinian Authority President, Mr Yasser Arafat.
"If the new Palestinian government is serious about pursuing peace and takes action to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism, they will find Israel to be a real partner," said Foreign Minister, Mr Silvan Shalom.
Mr Raanan Gissin, an aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, reiterated Israel's key condition for resumption of the US-backed road map peace plan - that Mr Korei and his new government subdue militant groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
"We're prepared to give Ahmed Korei a grace period and judge him by the results," Mr Gissin said.
Israeli officials intimated that they would not continue to insist that Mr Arafat be stripped of all security powers for now, as a tactical move meant to facilitate the resumption of talks between the two sides.
Like his predecessor Mr Mahmoud Abbas, Mr Korei is trying to persuade militant groups to agree to a ceasefire but has said he will not use force.
The road map requires that the Palestinian Authority dismantle all armed groups, and this was a key point of contention between Israel and Mr Abbas.
Even though Mr Abbas succeeded in persuading militant groups to declare a truce earlier this year, Israel said groups like Hamas were using the cessation of hostilities to regroup and rearm and it continued its military operations in the territories. The truce ultimately collapsed.
Some Israeli officials have been saying recently that if Israel wants the government of Mr Korei to survive more than a few months - the life-span of Mr Abbas's government - and to become an alternative power base to Mr Arafat, then Mr Sharon has to be more generous with concessions.
The government has been criticised for being too harsh on issues like prisoner releases and the lifting of crippling restrictions in the West Bank and Gaza - all of which undermined Mr Abbas and contributed to his resignation.