Gul said President Obama “has a point” when he said in his speech that Israel could not be expected to negotiate with a body that does not recognize Israel’s right to exist.

Asked if he was willing to press Hamas on that issue, Gul said, “I already advised them.”

In a meeting with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Ankara in 2006, Gul said he told Meshaal, “you have to be rational” about recognizing Israel’s right to exist.

Gul said he believed Hamas was ready to recognize Israel in its pre-1967 borders but wants that to happen simultaneously with Israel’s recognition of a Palestinian state.