Last update - 00:00 06/12/2007
Olmert, Livni, Barak to select head of Israeli team for PA talks
By Barak Ravid ,Haaretz Correspondent
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak will meet Thursday to select the head of the Israeli team to hold negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.
The three are also scheduled to determine the parameters for the negotiations, which are set to resume next week.
The head of the negotiation team will be responsible for preparing the negotiators for talks on the core issues of the conflict, which include the status of Jerusalem, permanent borders and the fate of Palestinian refugees.
A top official said that there are several candidates for the job, including some with military backgrounds and others with a civilian resume. Another official said one frontrunner is a top military figure with extensive military and diplomatic experience.
The meeting on Thursday is said to be the de-facto inauguration of the Israeli negotiation team. Olmert, Livni and Barak are to review prospective negotiation patterns, decide which committees and teams Israel should establish, and determine the make up of the "negotiations administration," and the fields of cooperation between the different ministries in the matter.
Livni is to remain the minister in charge of the negotiations. However, the administration will not be subordinate to the Foreign Ministry, but rather to the Prime Minister's Office, as it was during the last round of negotiations, in 1999.
Thursday's decisions will be brought before cabinet in the next few weeks.
Related articles: