JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Israelis are far from making their peace with Hamas. But they are also far from united on whether to keep boycotting the Palestinians now that the governing Islamist faction has joined forces with moderates.And given signs that the West is willing to engage at least the non-Hamas members of the new Palestinian coalition, some experts see Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert coming under domestic pressure to follow suit.

"Most Israelis are tired of rhetoric and ideology, so I don't expect we will be able to keep up an absolute stance," an Israeli government official said on condition of anonymity.

A poll in Israel's biggest-selling newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, yesterday found that 40 percent of the public agree with Olmert's refusal to talk peace with the Palestinians until they explicitly recognise Israel and renounce violence.

An almost equal number, 39 percent, said Israel should enter negotiations now, though just under half of these want diplomatic contacts limited to ministers from Fatah, the faction of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Such divided opinion might have been unthinkable a few years ago, when Hamas spearheaded a Palestinian revolt with waves of suicide bombings and calls for the Jewish state's destruction.

But since beating Fatah in elections last year, Hamas has largely held its fire and signalled it could enter a long-term truce with Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Matti Steinberg, a retired Israeli intelligence analyst, said the appeal of calm, even if it falls short of a full and immediate peace accord, carries a lot of weight in Israel.

"Palestinian radicals believe in managing the conflict, not solving it, so many Israelis may be coming around to an understanding that the best way of marginalising the radicals is to press for solutions, rather than containment," Steiberg said.

According to Steinberg, Olmert's efforts — backed by the West — to isolate Hamas by talking to Abbas had confused an Israeli public that sees such diplomatic distinctions as petty.

Since the Palestinian government was sworn in on Saturday, the United States has signalled openness to unofficial talks with non-Hamas ministers, as have key European powers France and Britain. Norway has fully recognised the new "unity" government.

Uzi Arad, a former advisor to right-wing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, also criticised Olmert while faulting what he described as "fatigue, apathy, ignorance and wishful thinking" among Israelis when it comes to the Palestinians.

"There has long been this brainwashing in Israel, that bred the slogan 'You make peace with your enemies'," Arad said.

"This is absurd. You fight your enemies, and when they cease to be enemies and show interest in peace, you make peace. But here we have a group, Hamas, that openly says it will remain belligerent, and too many Israelis want to accommodate it."

Steinberg noted that polls of recent years have shown that most Palestinians want a two-state coexistence with Israel, even when the majority has also endorsed Hamas's jihadi doctrines. "Israelis tend to see things in black and white, yes and no. But we may be coming around to the more Middle Eastern idea that, sometimes, yes and no can live together in the same house," the Israeli government official said.

But according to the official, Israelis will ultimately place their trust in superior military capabilities that are believed to include the Middle East's only atomic arsenal. "No one really expects Hamas to change, but we have to try work around it, and if we have to do it with sword in hand, then so be it," the official said.

Palestinians, for their part, will be busy in the near future trying to parlay the erosion of their international isolation into a easing of a year-old Western aid embargo.