Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met in Jerusalem yesterday with the head of the Palestinian negotiating team, Ahmed Qureia, for a first discussion of the core issues, in keeping with the guidelines agreed at last week's meeting by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Livni and Qureia agreed to continue meeting intensively, and to conduct their talks away from the media spotlight.
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Among the issues Livni and Qureia were to discuss: Jerusalem's future, resolving the refugee issue, and a possible compromise regarding borders.
The two also have to draw up teams for negotiating matters at a more junior level.
There will evidently be nine teams that will deal with water, security arrangements, judicial issues, trade and economics, infrastructure, the environment, compensation, and more.
In contrast to the talks on the core issues, discussions between these teams may assume a higher profile in the media.
Before the meeting with Qureia, Livni said at a meeting with the directors general of government ministries that the talks are not secret, but will be taking place discreetly.
"Past experience shows that when the talks are conducted in front of the cameras, it leads to radicalized positions, to a distortion of the things said in the negotiating room, to raised expectations, to disappointment and ultimately to violence ,"
Livni said. "Given a choice between daily headlines and dramas and the results, I opt for the results," she added.
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