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PM Ehud Olmert (Tess Scheflan / Jini)
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Last update - 21:10 04/11/2007
PM seeks deal with PA on 'core issues' while Bush still in office
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
tags: Israel, peace accord 

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert hopes to reach an agreement on all the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within a year, the premier said in conversations with both Israeli officials and foreign diplomats over the last few days.

Senior government officials said this time frame stemmed from the political timetable in the United States, where presidential elections will mark the end of U.S. President George W. Bush's time in the White House in November 2008.

In conversations with Israeli officials, Olmert cited two reasons for wanting to reach an agreement with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office.
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One is Bush's April 2004 letter to former prime minister Ariel Sharon in which he expressed support for Israel's retention of the major settlement blocs. The second is the Bush-sponsored road map peace plan, which requires the PA to dismantle the terrorist organizations before a Palestinian state can be established.

"We'll never have a more comfortable administration," one associate quoted Olmert as saying. "And the next administration will not be committed to these principles to the same degree."

Moreover, the associate said, Olmert does not believe that a new president will have the time and energy at the outset to invest in Israeli-Palestinian talks.

But despite his desire to reach an agreement within a year, Olmert opposes a rigid timetable for implementation - something on which the Palestinians insist. Recently, Palestinian officials said implementation should be completed no more than six months after a deal is signed. Olmert, however, believes that implementation must be conditioned on Palestinian action against the terrorist organizations.

Olmert's associates claim that Abbas agrees with the prime minister on this, but that Ahmed Qureia, who heads the Palestinian negotiating team, is insisting on dropping the road map sequencing. Partly as a result, they said, talks between the Israeli and Palestinian teams have gone nowhere, and the two sides are no closer to formulating a joint declaration for the upcoming Annapolis summit than when they started.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who heads the Israeli team, has met twice with Qureia in the last two days, but without result.

Israeli officials accused Qureia of systematically ignoring all the understandings Olmert and Abbas had previously reached, and instead demanding that the declaration include both substantive agreements on the core issues and a detailed timetable for their implementation. Qureia is conducting an "independent and nonconstructive policy," charged one.

Nevertheless, Livni and her aides denied that there is a crisis, saying they are encouraged because the Palestinians are still coming to meetings.

Olmert's associates said the premier has concluded that he and Abbas will have to be much more involved than he had expected in order to produce a joint declaration for Annapolis. He would prefer that the U.S. not present its own proposal, and he realizes if the parties do not seem to be progressing on their own, U.S. involvement will become increasingly likely.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will begin another round of talks in the region on Sunday, and "she's simply going to park here until the conference to ensure that things happen and to help formulate the declaration," said one Israeli official.

Associates said that Olmert is pleased with the progress of his talks with Abbas, but worried by the lack of progress on the ground. "So far, the Palestinians haven't done anything," one associate quoted him as saying.

Nevertheless, he believes that Abbas, despite his weakness, is the last chance to prevent a Hamas takeover.

According to his aides, Olmert's main hope for Annapolis is that it will mobilize Arab countries behind his talks with Abbas. To end the conflict, he told associates, it is essential that Arab countries both back Abbas in making the necessary concessions and stop aiding Hamas.

Ora Coren adds:

Speaking at a conference in Tel Aviv Thursday, Olmert said he hoped that Annapolis would "create a suitable atmosphere for continuing bilateral talks between Israel and the Palestinians. I promise that for our part, we will make every effort.

"For the first time, there's a Palestinian government that says it's willing to make peace with us, and I'm not willing to miss this opportunity," he said.

The premier acknowledged that final-status talks will be difficult, "but I'm convinced that at the end of the day we'll be able to reach an agreement. Then we'll need to implement it according to the road map, cautiously ... in order not to lose control of this delicate process, and to progress step by step to full implementation."

The first order of business, he declared, is to stop the rocket fire from Gaza. "No country in the world would tolerate this, and Israel also won't tolerate continued rocket fire on a daily basis. The Palestinians will have to deal with this with courage and determination," he said.

"At the same time, we want to continue the negotiations, with no excuses."

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      1.   Convenient 05:08  |  Natallie Durson 02/11/07
      2.   Just a tiny ray... 05:21  |  Esther 02/11/07
      3.   Lots and lots of hot air 05:37  |  Winston C. 02/11/07
      4.   Start Peace Talks now and sign a Peace Accord This Year 2007!!!!! 05:40  |  Ahmed 02/11/07
      5.   There They Go Again! 05:52  |  Double Click 02/11/07
      6.   Well, Good Luck! 06:39  |  Jeff Northridge 02/11/07
      7.   For Ahmed #4 07:34  |  Esther 02/11/07
      8.   99.9 chance that Olmert will be PM in a year 07:38  |  redmike 02/11/07
      9.   For Natallie #1 07:43  |  Esther 02/11/07
      10.   Esther 08:41  |  S 02/11/07
      11.   core 09:11  |  habakook 02/11/07
      12.   OK - we`ll postpone Annapolis for a year 09:19  |  Clickfool 02/11/07
      13.   it`s highly unlikely 09:25  |  thea 02/11/07
      14.   Thanks Esther 10:04  |  ray 02/11/07
      15.   S I would sympathize with Esther`s utopia 10:06  |  Jasmine Murphy 02/11/07
      16.   For habakook #11 10:15  |  Esther 02/11/07
      17.   If your wife is cheating on you for the third time..... 10:28  |  Swiss (Dino) 02/11/07
      18.   nobody wants to miss annapolis... 10:34  |  scanadu 02/11/07
      19.   A YEAR WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR HIM 10:40  |  indrajaya 02/11/07
      20.   No timetable equals no peace. It`s that simple. 10:55  |  Michael 02/11/07
      21.   #13 thea in Netherlands 10:56  |  Eugene 02/11/07
      22.   #8 Redmike 11:00  |  Hastaroth 02/11/07
      23.   #4 - that obviously isn`t going to happen so what next ? 11:11  |  redmike 02/11/07
      24.   May G*d help us all if he is still PM in 1 year 11:11  |  Kobi 02/11/07
      25.   To Achmad #4 11:13  |  Kobi 02/11/07
      26.   It should be clear to all, the most fundamental core issue is 11:35  |  Avihu 02/11/07
      27.   For Hastaroth #22 11:43  |  Esther 02/11/07
      28.   Enough! The Arabs of Western Palestine are incapable of creating, 11:49  |  Uzi 02/11/07
      29.   The Arabs must make very painful cocessions for real peace. 11:52  |  Uzi 02/11/07
      30.   What a shocker, foot dragging and blame the Palestinians 11:53  |  Roger Bannister 02/11/07
      31.   For Avihu #26 11:57  |  Esther 02/11/07
      32.   HAMAS WILL HAVE CONTROL OF THE WEST BANK 11:59  |  Salim 02/11/07
      33.   So not next week then? 12:01  |  Mannerheim 02/11/07
      34.   #17 The Swiss Dinosaur and marital advices 12:05  |  Hastaroth 02/11/07
      35.   DUmBYA and the YIDiot 12:07  |  Chaim Gorenstein 02/11/07
      36.   #26 Avihu "the most fundamental core issue" 12:10  |  Hastaroth 02/11/07
      37.   THE L-RD OUR RIGHTIOUSNESS ? 12:17  |  Bill 02/11/07
      38.   Presentation vs Reality 12:22  |  Anti Apartheid 02/11/07
      39.   Three "problems" with "core issues" 12:22  |  Choni Davidowitz 02/11/07
      40.   To talk, about talking, about having talks 12:24  |  Mark Lincoln 02/11/07
      41.   Bill 37 there`s enough religion in the Middle East already 12:29  |  Michael 02/11/07
      42.   #12 the yellow streak and chairman meeow 12:32  |  victor hardman 02/11/07
      43.   Now let`s see who rules America 12:42  |  Phillies Wright 02/11/07
      44.   For Esther #27 12:44  |  Hastaroth 02/11/07
      45.   For Hastaroth #34 12:49  |  Esther 02/11/07
      46.   Avihu # 26 Your comment is right on the mark! 12:57  |  Ruti 02/11/07
      47.   # 34 Hastaroth, the Greek Hastasaur..... 13:02  |  Swiss (Dino) 02/11/07
      48.   # 30 Bannister 13:03  |  Lynn 02/11/07
      49.   Will the US drag him there? 13:10  |  Daniello 02/11/07
      50.   # 17 Swiss 13:10  |  Lynn 02/11/07
      51.   22 ARAB STATES & 1 JEWISH STATE..SOLUTION 13:13  |  WARRIOR 02/11/07
      52.   43 Phillies 13:16  |  Scott Hunter 02/11/07
      53.   Ehud Olmert says "bite me" to the US President 13:18  |  Peter Brown 02/11/07
      54.   #41 MICHAEL 13:19  |  Bill 02/11/07
      55.   Esther vs. Avihu regarding the exchange of territory 13:23  |  Lili 02/11/07
      56.   #30 keep on runing and appeasing Roger - you make us laught ! 13:37  |  redmike 02/11/07
      57.   For Hastaroth #44 13:39  |  Esther 02/11/07
      58.   #30 - this roger couldn`t win a race and is best igored .. 13:40  |  redmike 02/11/07
      59.   #22 - thank you for taking the time to read ! 13:47  |  redmike 02/11/07
      60.   Oh come on, he won`t get away with that. 13:50  |  Marianne 02/11/07
      61.   Anna who? 13:51  |  Singer 02/11/07
      62.   Abbas in trouble 13:54  |  Marteen 02/11/07
      63.   #30 Roger Bannister 13:58  |  Daybreak 02/11/07
      64.   For Bible Bill # 37 14:03  |  Clickfool 02/11/07
      65.   Pesky little problem 14:09  |  simple solutions 02/11/07
      66.   Olmerts sounds disconnected from reality 14:32  |  Tosefta 02/11/07
      67.   A roadblock called Roadmap 14:34  |  Tosefta 02/11/07
      68.   Condi has got a lot of work to do 14:39  |  Anti Apartheid 02/11/07
      69.   # 50 Lynn 14:48  |  Swiss (Dino) 02/11/07
      70.   The Israeli`s Have Ever ONLY Wanted Peace! 14:49  |  Sarah 02/11/07
      71.   Over a year, please, pull an Arafat, wait forever 14:56  |  Petra 02/11/07
      72.   #1 NUT A LEE 14:58  |  Petra 02/11/07
      73.   Bill 54, why are so many religious people anti-peace? 15:04  |  Michael 02/11/07
      74.   Daybreak 15:04  |  Roger Bannister 02/11/07
      75.   Following Avihu`s post # 26, I wonder why no Arab leader is 15:25  |  Yael 02/11/07
      76.   #43 "Now let`s see who rules America" 15:26  |  Lars Hansen 02/11/07
      77.   Tosefta #66 15:28  |  S 02/11/07
      78.   Just what is Abbas bringing to the table? 15:39  |  Albert Amato