Brussels  - All the members of Israel's future government should drop the hawkish rhetoric they used while in opposition, otherwise the entire Middle East peace process will suffer, Turkey's President Abdullah Gul warned on Friday.

"We expect to see a change from the rhetoric they used in opposition. If those statements were repeated and became government policy, I have to warn that things would take a turn for the worse and would make for more suffering," Gul told reporters in Brussels.

Speaking after talks with European Union officials on the first visit of a Turkish president to the EU's headquarters, Gul said that "I expect Israel's leaders will act responsibly."

His comments come just days before Israel's hardline prime minister-designate, Benjamin Netanyahu, is expected to present his new coalition government to parliament.

That coalition includes both the pro-settlement Jewish Home faction and the ultra-nationalist Israel Beitenu party of controversial Moldovan-born immigrant Avigdor Lieberman, who is expected to take the post of foreign minister.

Observers had warned that a coalition based solely on hardline right-wing parties could spell the death of the peace process - especially after Israel's assault on Gaza at the new year.

Those fears were increased by the revelation of a clause in the coalition agreement signed between Netanyahu and Lieberman which states that toppling the Hamas regime in Gaza would be the government's "strategic goal."

However, on Tuesday the Labour party also voted to join the coalition, in a move seen as bringing a more moderate tone to the overall government. (dpa)