Israel kept mum on Friday on Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's announcement that he will not seek re-election, but officials said the Jewish state is keen on the moderate remaining in office.
The government has refrained from officially commenting on Abbas's announcement late on Thursday that he would not stand in the Palestinian general election he has called for January.
We would like to start negotiations as soon as possible with the moderate Palestinian leadership
"This is an internal (Palestinian) affair," Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told public radio. "We don't interfere in others' internal affairs.
"But it is evident that Israel and the United States are interested in a Palestinian leadership that is responsible and pragmatic," he said.
A senior Israeli official told AFP that hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sees Abbas "as a partner for peace."
"We would like to start negotiations as soon as possible with the moderate Palestinian leadership," he said, requesting anonymity.
The popular Ynet news website quoted an official it did not identify as saying: "It's in Israel's interest to have Abbas stay in office."
"Netanyahu does not want Abu Mazen (Abbas) to leave," another told the Maariv newspaper. "He is careful not to embrace him too tightly, but clearly he is the candidate who is the lesser evil among the Palestinian leadership."
The left-leaning Haaretz said that Israeli President Shimon Peres had telephoned Abbas a day before his announcement to try and talk him out of his decision.
"If you leave, the Palestinians would lose their chance for an independent state," the daily quoted Peres as saying. "The situation in the region would deteriorate. Stay, for the Palestinian people's sake."
Peres's spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.
Most of the Israeli press, however, dismissed Abbas's announcement as a tactical maneuver meant to pressure the United States to maintain its pressure on Israel for a total freeze on settlement construction in the whole West Bank.
"The Abu Mazen Threat Show," said a headline in Maariv.
"This announcement is a tactical step, aimed first and foremost at the Americans," an Israeli official told the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot daily.
Palestinian officials said that Abbas's announcement was motivated by his disappointment with Washington on the settlements issue.
After months of pressuring Israel for a complete freeze, Washington backed off, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praising Israel's offer of limited restrictions on construction as "unprecedented."
Abbas did not connect his decision directly to the stalled peace process, but said he was "surprised" by Washington's apparent decision not to insist on a complete Israeli settlement freeze.
Arab League's choice
Meanwhile, Arab League chief Amr Mussa urged Abbas to reconsider his decision to not run in an upcoming election, the Egyptian state news agency MENA reported.
Mussa assured Abbas of his backing in a phone conversation on Thursday night after the Palestinian leader, who has threatened to resign several times, insisted in a speech that his announcement was "not a stunt," MENA said.
Palestinian officials said that Abbas's decision to not run in the January election was motivated by his disappointment with U.S. efforts to halt Israeli settlement construction, which he had said must happen before peace talks can resume.
Abbas's frustration was said to have peaked when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised an Israeli proposal for some settlement limits as "unprecedented," after months of Washington demanding a full freeze.
Clinton reacted to Abbas's announcement by saying she would work with him in "any capacity."
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