Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., September 06, 2007 Elul 23, 5767 | | Israel Time: 02:53 (EST+7)
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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas meeting in Jerusalem last week. (Amos BenGershom)
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Olmert: Unclear whether accord can be reached with Abbas by November
By Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondent , and Reuters

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday he was not sure he would be able to reach a deal with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on statehood principles before a U.S.-sponsored conference in November.

"I have been holding meetings with Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen [Abbas] and I hope that in the near future this will lead to a ... joint declaration," Olmert told reporters. "If we can achieve a draft by November, we will achieve it, but I am not sure we will be able to do that."

Abbas, for his part, told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah that, "A genuine project for peace should be presented to this conference so it can serve as a basis for negotiations and reach towards a final settlement."

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Olmert will meet with international envoy Tony Blair in Jerusalem on Tuesday. He will also meet this week with Assistant U.S. Secretary of State David Welch, diplomats said.

Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Olmert and Abbas planned to meet "in the next few days" to try to narrow their differences.

Olmert said a document has yet to be agreed with Abbas. If an agreement is reached, "I am certain I will win support both in my party and from the people of Israel," he said.

Olmert's efforts to reach an agreement of principles with Abbas ahead of the international summit scheduled to take place in Washington in November is stirring considerable dissent in the ranks of his party, Kadima. According to party sources, a number of MKs and ministers have raised concern that Olmert is proceeding without sufficient backing inside Kadima, which they warn may pose a threat to the party's future.

Among the Kadima MKs and ministers who have expressed concern, mostly over press reports on developments in the Olmert-Abbas talks, are MK Marina Solodkin, MK David Tal, MK Otniel Schneller, MK Ze'ev Elkin, MK Shai Hermesh, and Minister of Public Security Avi Dichter.

Dichter was particularly concerned about the possibility of changes to the Negev border, a scenario that was reported in the media as having been raised in the Olmert-Abbas talks.

"There is no chance that the necessary majority will be found in the State of Israel for making changes to the Negev border. No one in Israel has that kind of mandate. In Kadima, this matter will not be able to pass by even the guard at the gate of the headquarters in Petah Tikva," he asserted.

The United States has yet to spell out what it hopes to achieve at the conference, which is expected to take place in the Washington, D.C., area in mid-to-late November.

"We cannot allow it to fail," Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, told a news conference with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

During his visit, Welch intends to "sound out the parties" about what they would be prepared to do to reach a deal on principles, a senior Israeli official said.

U.S. and Israeli officials have sought to play down the Bush administration's direct role in crafting such an agreement. "He is not bringing any documents," the official said of Welch.

An aide to Blair said ahead of his visit: "He's coming very much to listen, to hear more of the details and to organize his thinking." Blair's visit is expected to last through September 14.
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  1.   Olmert and Kadima 03:23  |  Rabbi Yakov Lazaros 03/09/07
  2.   PM`s peace initiative stirs dissent in Kadima ranks 03:27  |  alex 03/09/07
  3.   Solution 03:31  |  Abe 03/09/07
  4.   Moral authority, public support? 03:58  |  Shalom 03/09/07
  5.   Kadima exists as it`s founder exists 04:28  |  Mark Lincoln 03/09/07
  6.   Olmert Negotiating Like He Fought The Lebanon War? 04:44  |  Yoram 03/09/07
  7.   FOR PEACE:GOLAN TO SYRIA. NEGEV TO EGYPT. GAZA TO TERRORISTS. .. 04:47  |  Amazed Gentile 03/09/07
  8.   It`s always been like this 04:50  |  Shelley 03/09/07
  9.   Neither party has standing or credibility 05:09  |  Raymond from DC 03/09/07
  10.   So, Abbas has no "partner for peace" then? 05:09  |  Johnboy 03/09/07
  11.   shas 05:16  |  Rabbi Yakov Lazaros 03/09/07
  12.   Once Likud, always Likud 06:06  |  Tosefta 03/09/07
  13.   #10, john 06:13  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 03/09/07
  14.   Olmert and Kadima is BAD for Israel NEW ELECTIONS NOW 06:38  |  Kipperraes 03/09/07
  15.   #3 Abe 06:50  |  * BEN JABO 03/09/07
  16.   Abbas a "partner for peace"? Laugh 06:57  |  Wake Up 03/09/07
  17.   Israel for sale ...! 07:04  |  Henry 03/09/07
  18.   Olmert will bring civil war! 07:05  |  Avraham 03/09/07
  19.   This is theater upon the world stage 07:13  |  Natallie Durson 03/09/07
  20.   This goverment is starting to fall apart 07:19  |  ralphsrant1 03/09/07
  21.   Haaretz is an important newspaper: because 07:33  |  John 03/09/07
  22.   Equitable return to 1967 balance is international issue 07:41  |  Ivar 03/09/07
  23.   Amazed what! The Temple Mount is NOT an issue! 07:46  |  Ivar 03/09/07
  24.   Natallie, #19, you have got it wrong. You see... 07:59  |  Pastor Joseph 03/09/07
  25.   border change? 08:02  |  Isaiah 03/09/07
  26.   Despair 08:03  |  Esther 03/09/07
  27.   #12 Cipora - you make me laugh sometimes. 08:04  |  Johnboy 03/09/07
  28.   Its the Negev Desert!!!!!! 08:13  |  dan 03/09/07
  29.   Lieberman rides again 08:36  |  Esther 03/09/07
  30.   Pastor Joseph needs to read his Bible again 08:42  |  Ivar 03/09/07
  31.   I WILL QUIT THE TALKBACK 08:54  |  indrajaya 03/09/07
  32.   ONLY SOLUTION: GAZA UNDER EGYPT; PARTS OF W.BANK LINKED TO JORDAN 08:58  |  G. Marcus 03/09/07
  33.   Let`s offer a few crumbs 09:01  |  Leon Blaustein 03/09/07
  34.   Johnboy 09:30  |  Connie 03/09/07
  35.   Shelley Shelley Shelley 09:49  |  Connie 03/09/07
  36.   "Peace initiative"=monumental hoax 09:51  |  www.kibush.co.il 03/09/07
  37.   To Shelley # 8 - A shockingly bad memory 09:55  |  Dagma 03/09/07
  38.   PM violates # 97 of criminal code 09:57  |  sam 03/09/07
  39.   #22ivar and opinion no matter how much mistaken 10:03  |  victor hardman 03/09/07
  40.   when in history has giving a hostile enemy land resulted in peace 10:05  |  eymanamen 03/09/07
  41.   #27 JBeven you cant argue olmert was elected with 27% 10:06  |  victor hardman 03/09/07
  42.   To Ivar # 30- - The Bible is useless.... 10:17  |  Dolly 03/09/07
  43.   ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH G-D AND HIS WORD ?? 10:31  |  Bill 03/09/07
  44.   Olmert`s Wheeler -Dealing does not help.... 10:47  |  Dagma 03/09/07
  45.   Ivar,your Estland,an illegitimate rogue state,desperately 10:51  |  Absolute Sweden 03/09/07
  46.   MAYBE they read the racist hatred in the OFFICIAL Arab media. 11:06  |  PETER SM 03/09/07
  47.   #24, Pastor Joseph... 11:08  |  Silvienne 03/09/07
  48.   indrajaya.ARE they going to stop paying you 12:06  |  PETER.SM 03/09/07
  49.   FIRE RAMON/OLMERT,RETAKE GAZA,W.BANK,BUILD CITIES,PEACE)))))))) 12:22  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 03/09/07
  50.   Sack Olmert :an unelected PM accused of financial irregularities 12:43  |  D.Straught 03/09/07
  51.   #32 Why only PART of the West Bank, G. Marcus? 12:57  |  Johnboy 03/09/07
  52.   Dan the Man 13:20  |  VoiceOfReason 03/09/07
  53.   To Connie 13:26  |  VoiceOfReason 03/09/07
  54.   PM moves can hardly be called peace initiative 13:39  |  Joseph E . 03/09/07
  55.   #51 its called the league of nations mandate 1922 johnb 13:46  |  victor hardman 03/09/07
  56.   Tp Johnboy # 51 - Why?....... 13:57  |  Dolly 03/09/07
  57.   esther and her most used phrase.... 14:19  |  miriam 03/09/07
  58.   It is not Olmerts Peace Alone 14:20  |  Ronnie Wolman 03/09/07
  59.   no leadership 14:20  |  mak 03/09/07
  60.   #56 A refresher course for you Dolly 14:25  |  Johnboy 03/09/07
  61.   Olmert has no mandate 14:26  |  Dr. Allan 03/09/07
  62.   Peace Alone II 14:28  |  Ronnie Wolman 03/09/07
  63.   #55 You do have a tunnel-vision Victor 14:29  |  Johnboy 03/09/07
  64.   A Bible lesson from Einstein 14:52  |  Ivar 03/09/07
  65.   Snobs Dis` The People 15:06  |  Mike 03/09/07
  66.   #63 jb and total ignorance ride the outback again 15:16  |  victor hardman 03/09/07
  67.   Photo-opmert 15:17  |  enough 03/09/07
  68.   # 64 Ivar "Modern Israel is not found there." 15:24  |  17 03/09/07
  69.   To Yoram@6 15:52  |  Cy 03/09/07
  70.   To Yoram@6 15:57  |  Cynical 03/09/07
  71.   #13, Cipora Julianna Kohn 16:39  |  Burkhardt 03/09/07
  72.   Olmert`s "Peace Give Aways" 16:40  |  Ray 03/09/07
  73.   Why not connect Gaza to West Bank.Israel can take few Jordan land 16:42  |  Tamir Palestine 03/09/07
  74.   The ideal deal: A triple deal with Egypt 17:05  |  Tosefta 03/09/07
  75.   Tamir Palestine: Cutting Off Hamas 17:09  |  Ronnie Wolman 03/09/07
  76.   Kadima was elected based on mandate... 17:31  |  Smadar 03/09/07
  77.   Mike #65 Kol Hakoved. VGood response. 17:45  |  Mary 03/09/07
  78.   #76 smadar is unable to calculate 18:06  |  victor hardman 03/09/07
  79.   Doesn`t Kadima mean "let`s go ahead"? 18:42  |  J.M.Jordan 03/09/07
  80.   Olmert`s mandate (Smadar #76) 18:56  |  Tosefta 03/09/07