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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. (AP Archives) Last update - 19:04 10/12/2007 Olmert vows to 'forge historic path' toward peace with Palestinians By The Associated Press Tags: Israel, Ehud Olmert  On the eve of the first peace talks in nearly seven years, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised Monday to forge a historic path toward a final settlement with the Palestinians. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are set to meet Wednesday to kick off talks aimed at reaching a peace agreement by the end of 2008. Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas set the target at last month's Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, who head their respective negotiating teams, met Monday to finalize arrangements for Wednesday's talks. Advertisement Speaking at a business conference in Tel Aviv, Olmert acknowledged that the new dialogue is full of risks. He said Abbas' government is weak, and that Palestinian security forces are not yet capable of ensuring law and order in the West Bank. "This is an opportunity that entails many uncertainties, many risks, many dangers," Olmert said. "We cannot ignore them. But we absolutely must not allow uncertainty and risks to prevail because an opportunity also exists." "I intend to take advantage of this opportunity to wage serious, ongoing and uninterrupted negotiations in order to forge a historic path toward a new diplomatic reality," he added. The last round of peace talks broke down in violence in early 2001, shortly after the outbreak of the second intifada. Israeli and Palestinian officials have said that Wednesday's meeting is likely to focus on technical issues, with the real work to begin after an expected visit by Bush early next month. But already, the talks have run into trouble following Israel's announcement last week that it plans to build more than 300 new homes in East Jerusalem. The Palestinians want to make east Jerusalem the capital of a future independent state. Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed the area. Vice Premier Haim Ramon said Sunday that Israel must hand over Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem to the Palestinians, but insisted that Israel would keep all of the city's Jewish neighborhoods. The latest construction project is in Har Homa, a new Jewish neighborhood built in East Jerusalem. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week said the new apartments would not help to build confidence for new peace talks. The Palestinians have asked the U.S. to intervene to halt the construction. "This issue needs to be worked out before we start negotiations," Abbas confidant Yasser Abed Rabbo said. But he did not say construction must be halted as a condition for the talks to begin. Related articles: Vice PM Ramon: Parts of J'lem must be given to Palestinians Palestinians slam Israeli move to build new homes in E. Jerusalem Israel, PA agree to strive for deal by end of 2008 Bookmark to del.icio.us   JDate wins the 'Oscars' The leading Jewish dating Web site is an official honoree of the Webby Awards. 'Worse than Nazi camp' A Libyan envoy to the UN says the situation in Gaza is worse than in concentration camps.   1.   They want the Temple Mount 17:58  |  Avi 10/12/07   2.   historic agreement 18:08  |  geroge 10/12/07   3.   Olmert adopts a Ra Ra Ra approach 18:18  |  Sam 10/12/07   4.   Dana Olmert at the helm,insane babbling of "peace in our time" 18:19  |  Absolute Sweden 10/12/07   5.   The Israeli way: Talk peace, build on the West Bank 18:28  |  Apartheid 10/12/07   6.   This Buffoon Should Be Limited to Palmgreasing 18:34  |  Tod Zuckerman 10/12/07   7.   The Arabs must make very painful concessions for real peace! 18:39  |  Uzi 10/12/07   8.   There can never be separate Arab polity west of the Jordan! 18:40  |  Uzi 10/12/07   9.   Equitable & practical Partition Plan that may work for a change: 18:41  |  Uzi 10/12/07   10.   Sam- What kind of negotiation is that? 18:44  |  Peter 10/12/07   11.   Now thieves demand concessions before returning what was stolen 18:52  |  Apartheid 10/12/07   12.   Uzi # 7 - 18:57  |  David 10/12/07   13.   Is 7,8,9 Uzi a virus infecting the Haaretz computer? 19:00  |  Michael 10/12/07   14.   @5, apartheid,roadblocks should be multiplied. 19:02  |  vladimir 10/12/07   15.   @12, david please give your name corectly - DAUD 19:04  |  vladimir 10/12/07   16.   Who Gets What 19:09  |  Nephtaly 10/12/07   17.   Peter- correct, negotiation is a 2 way process 19:14  |  Sam 10/12/07   18.   #7-9 Uzi: Too late, two-tate solution already agreed 19:18  |  Meir 10/12/07   19.   Where does Olmert come off declaring something like that? 19:28  |  Conroy 10/12/07   20.   Sam- They do have a lot to give 20:03  |  Peter 10/12/07   21.   Idiot( ic...) 20:28  |  Henry 10/12/07   22.   Henry: Leave Israel to the ISRAELIS 20:43  |  Peter 10/12/07   23.   To Uzi (#9) 20:52  |  Morris Valentine 10/12/07   24.   To Peter (#22) 21:00  |  Morris Valentine 10/12/07   25.   Thieving Liar! 21:20  |  lakshmi 10/12/07   26.   To: Peter ( # 22) 21:21  |  Henry 10/12/07   27.   Morris Valentine 21:29  |  Peter 10/12/07   28.   We want, we want, we want, we want, we want ... 21:29  |  Chanalau, Tova 10/12/07   29.   palestinian concessions 21:33  |  real vision 10/12/07   30.   Peter-As you say "It`s a start" 21:39  |  Sam 10/12/07   31.   Conroy- Olmert is just being positive 21:51  |  Sam 10/12/07   32.   For gosh sakes, just give up E Jerusalem 21:57  |  Sam 10/12/07   33.   lets us hope he is lying and not acomplete cretin? 22:22  |  victor hardman 10/12/07   34.   To Peter (#27) 22:54  |  Morris Valentine 10/12/07   35.   Henry - On this point we agree 22:59  |  Peter 10/12/07   36.   #26 Henry 23:40  |  Labhras 10/12/07   37.   Morris: conditio sine qua non 00:21  |  Peter 11/12/07   38.   "new diplomatic reality" - NO! "New social reality" - YES! 00:21  |  Naftali Lavie 11/12/07   39.   Peace 00:27  |  Nezam al Jenini 11/12/07   40.   Give up East Jerusalem 00:40  |  RonH 11/12/07   41.   Which sense of the verb "to forge" does Olmert mean? 01:12  |  Murray 11/12/07   42.   We don`t have peace with the Palestinians living in Israel 01:32  |  Yoav Naor 11/12/07   43.   To RonH # 40 - No to giving up Jerusalem 09:29  |  Dolly 25/04/08

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