JERUSALEM [MENL] -- A month after Hamas's victory, Israel and the United States disagree over whether to cooperate with the Palestinian Authority.

Officials said the United States has urged Israel to continue to engage and support the PA despite the Hamas takeover of the Palestinian government. They said Washington has argued that Israel could limit its contacts with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, a Fatah leader who has voiced his support for peace with the Jewish state.

Israel has asserted that the emerging Hamas government means the PA has come under the control of a terrorist movement. Officials said Abbas, who has repeatedly threatened to resign, remained in his position merely to represent the Hamas government to the West.

"Abu Mazen [Abbas] can't be a fig leaf for a terrorist regime," Israeli Foreign Minister Tsipi Livni said. "Abu Mazen can't be the nice face in front of ugly terrorism."