Israel's acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has described Russia's contacts with the Islamic militant group Hamas as a mistake.
In a phone call to the Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mr Olmert said it had been a mistake to meet the Hamas leaders during their visit to Moscow and such contact would only encourage the group not to make the changes demanded by the international community.
The so-called Middle East quartet, which includes the EU, United Nations and US, want Hamas to commit to non-violence and to recognise Israel's right to exist before it forms a government.
Earlier, the deputy leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, urged the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, not to accept existing peace agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
In a video broadcast on the Arabic television station, Al Jazeera, al-Zawahiri said the Palestinian Authority had sold Palestine for crumbs.
