Islamic Hamas movement on Thursday rejected U.S. President Barack Obama's speech on the Middle East, accusing him of leaning towards Israel.
"Obama adopted Israel's position to boost himself in preparation for an electoral campaign," said Mahmoud Zahar, a Gaza- based leader of Hamas, which does not recognize Israel.
Obama delivered a speech Thursday in which he urged Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace talks, stalled over a dispute on settlement activities since last year.
He agreed with the Palestinian National Authority that the negotiations should be based on having the Palestinian state within the lands that Israel has captured in 1967, with limited swap of land.
But for Hamas, Obama's words were not different from those of his predecessor George Bush, according to Zahar, who also said that Obama was trying to promote Israel as the side that seeks peace and negotiations.
The Palestinians decided to go to the United Nations to seek recognition of state in September, after Israel resumed the construction in the West Bank last year. However, Obama said efforts to isolate Israel internationally and through the UN will fail.
Zahar, whose movement has recently signed a reconciliation and power-sharing deal with Abbas' Fatah party, agreed that the Palestinians should not go to the UN for recognition, saying that such step is useless.