Last update - 02:26 13/12/2007
Har Homa homes mar new talks
By Barak Ravid
Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, led by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and PA negotiator Ahmed Qureia, were renewed yesterday in a very tense atmosphere.
The Palestinians opened yesterday's meeting with a series of complaints, beginning with the contract issued to build 307 housing units in Jerusalem's Har Homa neighborhood. The Palestinians have recently threatened to boycott the negotiations due to this tender.
Palestinian team head Abu Ala refused to open the negotiations and demanded to discuss the construction first. He said the construction in Har Homa and the rest of the settlements caused a difficult problem to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"It undermines the Palestinian public's confidence in the peace process," Abbas said. "The building's effect is extremely negative and could jeopardize the resumption of the talks."
The Israeli team, however, raised concerns regarding security problems in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Livni said the situation in the south was extremely grave, especially in view of yesterday's Qassam attack.
She said Israel took a grim view of the involvement of members of the Palestinian defense forces in the attack in the West Bank about a week ago, in which an Israeli citizen was killed.
Both sides agreed at the end of the session to hold further talks at the gathering of the donor states in Paris next week.
The talks were renewed after a seven-year hiatus following the failure of Camp David, the Taba talks and the fall of the Barak government.