Gov't to set up 14 negotiating teams for talks with PA - Haaretz

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Last update - 08:29 28/11/2007

Gov't to set up 14 negotiating teams for talks with PA

By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent

Tags: Annapolis, Israel

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The cabinet is expected to approve shortly the establishment of a "negotiations administration" that will include 14 working groups, before negotiations start on December 12, as announced Tuesday at the U.S.-sponsored international peace summit.

The team set up by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni a few weeks ago to aid in the negotiations with the Palestinians last week presented her with a series of documents that make recommendations for conducting the talks on the core issues the day after the Annapolis summit.

The recommendations include reestablishing a body to oversee the negotiations, similar to that established seven years ago by then prime minister Ehud Barak for the Camp David and Taba talks. The oversight administrative body will include up to 14 working groups on different issues.

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The support team for the negotiations was headed by Nimrod Barkan, who is also the head of the Foreign Ministry's Center for Political Research. The recommendations were probably also passed on to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

The group mapped out the issues to negotiate with the Palestinians. While the Palestinians emphasize only six main issues: borders, refugees, Jerusalem, water, settlements and security arrangements, the Israeli team identified no less than 14 topics for discussion, some civilian and some military.

Among the issues identified were the future of the airspace and the air force's freedom of action over the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and agreements over allocating the electromagnetic spectrum, an issue with critical implications for military and intelligence matters.

Other topics raised included joint sewage and waste systems; tax and customs issues; economic cooperation; border crossings; cooperation and coordination between legal systems and more.

The recommendation to Livni and Olmert was to hold a special discussion where Israel would set its own priorities, decide which working groups it wants to establish and on which of the issues to concentrate in the negotiations.

The group even formulated a document to be brought to the cabinet stating how the supervisory administration should be constructed. According to the recommendations, the head of the new negotiations administration should be part of the negotiating team and fully involved in the talks, unlike the situation during Barak's time. Nevertheless, the negotiations administration should be defined as a purely advisory body, and will organize the preparations and staff work for each of the core issues. The recommendations also say that the negotiations should be supervised by a ministerial team, headed by the chief negotiator. Wednesday, Livni fulfills this role, but it is not clear whether she will continue or whether Olmert will decide to give the job to another minister.

One question not answered in the recommendations is who will have responsibility for the negotiations administration. In the past, it was directly subordinate to the prime minister. "This is a political decision, and Olmert, Livni and Barak will have to decide on the matter," said an official involved in the puzzle.

The document recommends that all relevant ministries be represented, which means a body made up of dozens of experts, including a permanent intelligence officer to provide members with necessary information. "If the cabinet does not approve [the negotiations administration] with an official decision, it will not work," said the official. "Everyone needs to understand that matters are being conducted with complete authority."

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1.	Bureaucratic Wet Dreams	05:52	\|	Mark of Lewiston	28/11/07

2.	WE DON,T NEED NEGOTIATION TEAMS WE NEED ELECTIONS NOW	09:19	\|	Jaques Escargot	28/11/07

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