Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas a "terrorist" and accused him of transferring more than $1 million to militants to carry out attacks against Israel.
Mr Haniyeh aide Ghazi Hamad said Olmert's statements were "confused and irresponsible". Mr Olmert's allegations, in an interview with Time magazine released today, marked a sharp escalation in an Israeli campaign against Mr Haniyeh and the unity government he formed with President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction this month.
Israel has been urging other countries to shun Mr Haniyeh and the government, citing Hamas's refusal to recognise the Jewish state and renounce violence. "Just lately Mr Haniyeh transferred over a million dollars for a group of terrorists to carry out terrorist actions against Israeli citizens," Mr Olmert said.
"He's a terrorist. You have a terrorist who is prime minister of the Palestinian Authority now." Mr Olmert said the funds came from outside the Palestinian territories and were transferred to one of Hamas's armed wings for the "explicit purpose of carrying out terrorist actions".
He offered no other details about the transfer. An Israeli security source said Israel believes that Mr Haniyeh was directly involved in the decision to make the transfer, which took place in recent weeks. The money was not taken from the Palestinian government, the source said.
According to Mr Olmert, Mr Abbas said "time and again that 'I will not agree to have a government with Mr Haniyeh as prime minister.'" It was not immediately clear where Mr Abbas had made such statements.
Mr Olmert has vowed to shun the Palestinian unity government and has urged other countries to follow suit. He has agreed to meet Mr Abbas every two weeks. In a March 2006 interview with the Israeli news Web site YNET, Mr Olmert called Mr Haniyeh an "enemy" but said there was no evidence he was involved in Hamas's "terror" operations.
Mr Olmert said at the time that Israel could target Haniyeh if the senior Hamas leader got involved in militant attacks.