Abbas aide: Israel won't discuss core issues preventing PA state - Haaretz

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Sun., August 19, 2007 Elul 5, 5767

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		Yasser Abed Rabbo. (Kobi Gideon / BauBau)

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Last update - 15:34 18/08/2007

Abbas aide: Israel won't discuss core issues preventing PA state

By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service

PLO Executive Committee member Yasser Abed Rabbo told the Arabic-language paper Al-Quds Al-Arabi that no negotiations are currently taking place between Israel and the Palestinian Authority on core issues standing in the way of the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The statements come just days after sources in Jerusalem said that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud and Abbas have begun been negotiating a new document on the core issues.

These issues include the permanent borders of the future Palestinian state, the question of jurisdiction over holy sites in Jerusalem, and the Palestinian refugee problem.

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Abed Rabbo told the paper, which is published in London, that Israel refuses to discuss the issues before the U.S.-backed Mideast peace conference set for the fall.

He said that if Israel continues to refuse, the conference will be useless.

Sources: Olmert, Abbas talks hit snag on refugee problem
Talks between Olmert and Abbas on a future Palestinian state are stuck on the issue of the Palestinian refugee problem, government sources in Jerusalem told Haaretz this week. Abbas is refusing to make significant concessions, the sources said.

They said Abbas and Olmert have in recent weeks been negotiating the new document, said to be one-page in length and containing five general clauses on central issues.

Olmert and Abbas have reached several understandings, but have yet to agree on actual resolutions, the sources said, adding that the two leaders will meet at the end of the month to discuss the issues.

Both Israeli and Palestinian parties involved in the negotiations said the document was meant to be completed for the international peace conference U.S. President George W. Bush plans to hold in the fall.

Foreign diplomats said Abbas' aides told them that the international conference could not take place before the document is completed. Sources at Olmert's office, however, suggested a different approach. "We're hoping to complete the document of principles before the conference, but the meeting does not depend on the document's completion," one said.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to arrive in Israel early next month to try to bridge the gap between the Palestinian and Israeli positions. Rice is reportedly determined to deal with core issues, as opposed to tactical problems such as Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank or concessions aimed at improving living conditions for the Palestinians.

If the document is completed in time it will form the basis for further discussions at the conference, government sources said. Sources involved with the negotiations said the Palestinian side had already assembled a team to handle the talks.

Israeli diplomats have yet to set up such a delegation, but Jerusalem is currently forming a negotiating strategy for future talks with the Palestinians. The strategists are also enlisting international support and assistance for the talks.

The strategy is based on three areas:

1. Bilateral talks with the Palestinians. The guidelines for negotiations with the Palestinians are restricted to local issues. The immediate goal will be to weaken Hamas, the Fatah rivals who seized control of the Gaza Strip last June. This would be achieved through a boycott on Hamas amid attempts to bolster Abbas' West Bank government.

2. Regional Arab issues. In its dealings with moderate Arab states, Israel is no longer demanding full recognition. Instead, Israel will seek a gradual rapprochement with the Arab League. Israel aims to secure the Arab League's support and assistance for the international conference. Sources in Jerusalem said, however, that Arab diplomats are skeptical about the conference and fear that it has little chance of breaking the impasse in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

3. Issues concerning the international community and the international Quartet of Mideast mediators. Israel, according to government sources, is seeking additional financial support for Abbas' regime from the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.

As Israeli diplomatic experts tackle these challenges, government sources believe the plans are hard to implement "even after we reach the document of understating with the Palestinians," one said. For this reason, a source in Jerusalem said that "the negotiations should aspire to pertain to as broad a diplomatic context as possible."

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1.	Israel should refuse discussions because there is a better plan:	10:45	\|	Uzi	18/08/07

2.	to #1 ,was sharon strategy	11:19	\|	gil	18/08/07

3.	was inevitable...	11:39	\|	ravi	18/08/07

4.	Talk talk talk	12:11	\|	maoriboy	18/08/07

5.	core issues?	12:11	\|	ron	18/08/07

6.	to ravi	12:13	\|	gil	18/08/07

7.	Why not tell the truth? Israel doesn`t want peace	12:53	\|	Palestinian Brit	18/08/07

8.	@4, maoryboy and others	13:05	\|	vladimir	18/08/07

9.	At least Israelis are consistent	13:06	\|	H50	18/08/07

10.	#2 gil	13:21	\|	maoriboy	18/08/07

11.	Uzi (#1):	13:28	\|	Michael Steiner	18/08/07

12.	Palestinian Brit lies again.	13:43	\|	Ken Jurist	18/08/07

13.	Best thing for Abed Rabbou is to shut up	13:54	\|	El-Birawi	18/08/07

14.	If Israel continues to refuse to commit suicide ..	14:13	\|	Hal	18/08/07

15.	Possession is nine tenths of the law.	14:14	\|	Uzi	18/08/07

16.	gil......peace...how?	14:25	\|	ravi	18/08/07

17.	To Ken Jurist #12	14:36	\|	Serenity	18/08/07

18.	Everything is relative	14:48	\|	Pepe	18/08/07

19.	#7 Palestinian Brit	14:50	\|	Charles Ronen	18/08/07

20.	PEACE	15:57	\|	Hunter	18/08/07

21.	An ingrate	16:04	\|	Mark Lincoln	18/08/07

22.	Extreme Congenital Paranoia	17:18	\|	Double Click	18/08/07

23.	The ball... ..	17:25	\|	jake	18/08/07

24.	Easy Answer to Main `Core` Issue: Saudi $ to Pal Refugees	17:46	\|	Solon	18/08/07

25.	H50 take H2O, the lands you are talking never	18:13	\|	Sal	18/08/07

26.	Saudi money or a homeland?	20:15	\|	Palestinian Brit	18/08/07

27.	Ttwisting of the truth again......	20:18	\|	Palestinian Brit	18/08/07

28.	El-Birawi - They must be getting pretty worried	20:21	\|	Mark Lincoln	18/08/07

29.	When do I get a warm feeling that Israel is winning?	20:34	\|	Uzi	18/08/07

30.	Have NO FEAR, Uzi of Haifa is HERE.	21:25	\|	Arik	18/08/07

31.	#3 ravi, U R definitely right	21:29	\|	Harrisson	18/08/07

32.	#4 Maoriboy, very true statement.	21:36	\|	Faiman	18/08/07

33.	PalBrit	22:54	\|	Fish	18/08/07

34.	# 1 uzi	23:02	\|	Axel	18/08/07

35.	#2 Gil, are you naive or plain stupid?	00:02	\|	Ben Alofs	19/08/07

36.	I don`t have much patience with Abde Rabbo`s whinings and	00:18	\|	lakshmi	19/08/07

37.	Israeli borders	02:48	\|	LeCorbeau	19/08/07

38.	No so-called Palestinian never never	10:37	\|	Grafted Wild Olive	19/08/07

39.	Why would Israel go back into bondage	10:42	\|	Grafted Wild Olive	19/08/07

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