Arab Peace Initiative
Hamas' foreign minister Mahmoud al-Zahar said in June 2006 that the organization rejects the initiative. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said in October 2006 that the "problem with the Arab peace initiative is that it includes recognition of the state of Israel, the thing that the Palestinian government rejects" and dismissed it. That month, Mahmoud al-Zahar declared unequivocally: "Hamas will never change its position regardless of the pressure's intensity" and "We will never recognize the Arab initiative." In January 2007, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said in an interview that Hamas supports "the Arab position," presumably referring to the Arab Peace Initiative.