Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose peacemaking policies were rejected by Hamas after it won elections, said he proposed secret peace talks with Israel and believed a deal could still be reached within a year.
However, interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called Abbas a failed leader, casting doubt on prospects for negotiations with him once Hamas takes over the government.
In an interview with Israel's Haaretz newspaper published yesterday, Abbas said he proposed opening "a back channel of talks" to US officials and former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres, who has spearheaded peace efforts in the past.
Hamas's shock election victory appeared to torpedo any hopes of resuming negotiations to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but Abbas said: "I am convinced that within less than a year, we will be able to sign an agreement."
Olmert, in an interview with the YNETnews Web site, said he has had "friendly" relations with Abbas, but added: "I cannot base (Israel's) relations with the Palestinian Authority on the sympathy that I might have for a particular individual."
"He (Abbas) has failed in the biggest challenge which faced him from the very outset: to combat terror. As a result of the failure of his government, Hamas has risen," said Olmert, whose centrist Kadima party is expected to win Israel's general election on March 28.