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U.S. Secretary of State Rice with Olmert (Moshe Milner/GPO)
Last update - 23:34 04/05/2008
Livni: Israel has no hidden agenda for West Bank settlements
By Haaretz Service and Reuters
Tags: Condoleezza Rice, Iran 

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Sunday that Israel has "no hidden agenda" regarding West Bank settlements, after U.S. Secretary of State called Israel's policy in the area "problematic."

The two leaders met Sunday on the second day of Rice's visit to the region.

Livni added that the settlements would not pose an obstacle to the implementation of the Road Map peace plan or to Palestinian aspirations for a future state, saying that the execution of the 2005 disengagement from Gaza demonstrated that Israel would stick to its obligations over the matter.
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After meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah earlier Sunday, Rice said a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians was still possible by the end of the 2008.

"We continue to believe it is an achievable goal to have an agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis by the end of the year," Rice proclaimed at a news conference with Abbas.

She described Israeli settlements in the West Bank as "particularly problematic" to efforts to establish a Palestinian state, and added that she was pressing Israel to do more ease restrictions on Palestinian movement but also stressed that Palestinians needed to take further action to meet Israeli security demands.

Abbas praised the U.S.'s commitment to the peace process, despite his very vocal disappointment following his meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington about a week ago.

"We want to achieve success, and we need to reach a comprehensive agreement," he said. "If we don't reach an agreement, we have to think about what the next step will be. Now, let's not think about failure."

During the news conference, Abbas reiterated his long-standing call for Hamas to reverse its Gaza takeover and agree to early elections. Hamas refuses to step down, citing its victory over Abbas' Fatah movement in 2006 parliamentary elections.

"The call for early election is illogical and makes no sense. We had a
legitimate election but no one has respected the result of this election," said Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza.

Earlier Sunday, Rice met Defense Minister Ehud Barak to discuss removing West Bank roadblocks.

"Let's get to work," Rice said as she sat down with Barak, who exerts great influence over the network of checkpoints and roadblocks that Israel argues it needs to prevent suicide bombings.

Palestinians view the barriers as collective punishment and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who is to join Rice in a three-way meeting with Barak later in the morning, say they blight the Palestinian economy.

On Saturday, Rice said she will pressure the sides to step up talks and reach an agreement.

"The Bush administration also would like to see speedier progress toward a political settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, a goal of President George W. Bush in his final year in office," Rice said en route to Israel and the West Bank for weekend meetings.

Rice on Saturday also urged Israel not to undercut Palestinian security forces as they deploy in the West Bank and questioned if promises to remove roadblocks had been kept.

Speaking to reporters as she began a two-day visit to the Middle East to try to speed up Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Rice said she planned to review whether Israel had taken steps on the ground to make life easier for Palestinians.

She also plans to assess the extent to which the Palestinians have honored their own commitments, which include cracking down on militants that launch attacks on Israel.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's security forces began deploying to the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday for a law-and-order campaign meant to show the government is laying the ground for statehood.

Palestinian officials have long complained Israel has undercut their forces by launching raids in areas where they are trying to assume responsibility for security.

"There have to be very insistent efforts to make sure that they are not being undermined," Rice told reporters as she flew to the region for separate meetings with Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

She also plans to hold trilateral meetings with the top peace negotiators, Livni and Ahmed Qureia of the Palestinian Authority, as well as with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Barak.

Abbas and Olmert are due to meet on Monday after Rice leaves.


Washington wants the Jenin campaign to go beyond crime-fighting to combat militant groups - Israel's main condition for implementing a peace agreement.

Rice said the most important part of her talks would be to review "where we are in terms of the situation on the ground and the improvement of life for the Palestinian people".

Following Rice's last trip in late March, Israel announced plans to remove 61 barriers and roadblocks in the occupied West Bank but a UN survey subsequently found only 44 had been removed and that most were of little or no significance.

"The first thing we are going to do is to review the ones that were supposedly moved," Rice told reporters, adding that she wanted to discuss with Israeli officials how significant those barriers were to allowing Palestinian movement.

"Not all road blocks are created equal," Rice said.

U.S. President George W. Bush has set an ambitious goal of trying to reach an agreement on a Palestinian state and an end to the six-decade conflict by the end of this year but there has so far been little visible progress in the talks.

At the same time, the Bush administration is trying to improve the lot of Palestinians whose economic life is stunted by hundreds of Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks on the West Bank.

While Rice has repeatedly said the peace talks are making headway, U.S. officials have also made clear that they would like them to move faster.

"Everyone, President Abbas, I, the president (Bush) would like to see things move more quickly - that's why we keep coming and pressing all the parties to meet their obligations," Rice said.

U.S. officials are sensitive to the lack of demonstrable progress in the talks and they hope to use a visit by Bush, who will travel to the region this month to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Israel's founding, to nudge them along.

Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel now at the Brookings Institution think tank, was skeptical that the Bush administration was on the verge of offering its own ideas on how to craft a peace agreement to end the six-decade conflict.

"I see no indication of that. I think that their very clear attitude to this - at least the president's view of it - is that it's up to the parties to make the deal," Indyk said.

He said bilateral talks about borders, settlements, the status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees could be making headway but that Abbas' dissatisfied air after meeting Bush in Washington last week suggested otherwise.

"Abu Mazen [Abbas] left here in a very sour mood - and I think that is an indicator that things aren't going great," he said.

Indyk also said he found it "much more disturbing" that there has been little movement on the ground, saying Israel has repeatedly moved to expand settlements since the Annapolis, Maryland, peace talks and done little to remove significant roadblocks on the West Bank.

On the Palestinian side, it is unclear how much security forces under Abbas have been built up to take on militants.

King Abdullah: Progress on peace would be enough to implement 2002 Arab peace initiative

Earlier on Saturday, Jordan's King Abdullah told visiting MK Yossi Beilin that progress in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians prior to the two sides reaching an agreement on the core issues of the conflict would be sufficient for the Arab League states to implement, at least partially, the 2002 Arab peace initiative, Israel Radio reported on Saturday.

The monarch added his belief that a significant number of Arab and Muslim states would move to establish diplomatic relations with Israel as a result of positive movement on the Palestinian front.

Beilin told Abdullah that the gaps between the two sides are smaller than what is perceived by the public, yet the question remains whether Israel and the Palestinians can muster the courage to make the necessary compromises and bridge those gaps, according to Israel Radio.

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    <
      1.   After Rice`s visit situation will further deteriorate 19:36  |  * BEN JABO 01/05/08
      2.   What`s the point? 19:48  |  Sam 01/05/08
      3.   Rice and the Pipe dream 19:49  |  Brod 01/05/08
      4.   Watch out, she brings nothing but misery 23:50  |  El-Birawi 01/05/08
      5.   Why Bother? 01:07  |  Yuri 02/05/08
      6.   Rice and the POPE DREAM! 01:21  |  Jeff 02/05/08
      7.   She is coming to infrom all More carrots for Mullah`s 01:54  |  Yuri 03/05/08
      8.   just say `no` to Jihad 15:03  |  alan 03/05/08
      9.   Abbas and Indyk dissatisfied with Israelis.Hury,jump 15:10  |  Absolute Sweden 03/05/08
      10.   TOTAL DISARMAMENT OF PALESTINIANS 15:18  |  real vision 03/05/08
      11.   Peace is farther away than ever 15:36  |  Natallie Durson 03/05/08
      12.   #5 - Forgetful Yuri 16:11  |  DoubleClick 03/05/08
      13.   What are the chances of peace? 16:12  |  Jean Van Daem 03/05/08
      14.   not from evidence from Ulti-truth 16:38  |  Di 03/05/08
      15.   so give us some land ,king, 16:51  |  baba lalou 03/05/08
      16.   Abdullah`s Fantasy 17:05  |  Brod 03/05/08
      17.   Isn`t That Nice,,,,, 17:46  |  MIKE 03/05/08
      18.   Who wants ties to or with Arabs anyway 18:37  |  ottomatik 03/05/08
      19.   This BS wont fly here anymore 20:31  |  SLAVO 03/05/08
      20.   Dining with a suspected criminal? 21:36  |  Palestinian Brit 03/05/08
      21.   Olmert must be shaking opposite Condi 21:40  |  Shake Rattle Role 03/05/08
      22.   Breaking News: Rice more expensive! 22:27  |  Confused Citizen 03/05/08
      23.   Pol Pot like experiments on Israel urged by Ms.Rice 23:51  |  Absolute Sweden 03/05/08
      24.   #10 Palestinian Brit 00:12  |  * BEN JABO 04/05/08
      25.   Rice should lift the roadblocks around the Green Zone 00:23  |  * BEN JABO 04/05/08
      26.   Condi Rice should send a loud American message 00:25  |  Dutch 04/05/08
      27.   Palestinian movement and Israeli restraint 00:41  |  Zev 04/05/08
      28.   An answer to Dutch 01:09  |  Sam C 04/05/08
      29.   A woman without a cause 01:14  |  Mark Lincoln 04/05/08
      30.   Rice to pressure Israel on West Bank roadblocks 01:43  |  Meg MacLeod 04/05/08
      31.   Operating at the top of her ability 01:44  |  Gideon Reader 04/05/08
      32.   US Peace Process REQUIRES Jews to ACCEPT Being Maimed & MURDERED 01:46  |  Linda Rivera 04/05/08
      33.   rice 01:56  |  azad 04/05/08
      34.   Bush/Rice`s PA Muslim FAVORITES CELEBRATE 9/11 MURDERS 01:58  |  Linda Rivera 04/05/08
      35.   #25 dutch - people are already exploding 02:03  |  Adrian de Klerk 04/05/08
      36.   Desperate Americans Jump to their DEATHS. PA Muslims CELEBRATE 02:12  |  Linda Rivera 04/05/08
      37.   Nothing is going to happen before Bush steps down! 02:18  |  lakshmi 04/05/08
      38.   Why Asked, Tell Them 02:31  |  Abe 04/05/08
      39.   # 28 sam 02:31  |  Axel 04/05/08
      40.   # 29 mark 02:43  |  Axel 04/05/08
      41.   Their Quest is Property? Yeah? Like Gaza? 03:04  |  GZLives 04/05/08
      42.   AXEL #30 03:44  |  Brant 04/05/08
      43.   Bush`s Legacy 04:02  |  Harold 04/05/08
      44.   Iran can help clean the IDF roadblocks from the west bank 04:25  |  Aounist 04/05/08
      45.   Rice, Roradblocks & the Blockheads. 04:58  |  Akram Zekaria 04/05/08
      46.   Pressure on Israel 05:15  |  Hilda 04/05/08
      47.   TIME for DIVINE INTERVENTION 05:16  |  Shimon Cleopas 04/05/08
      48.   Speed it up, Condi... 05:35  |  Yanosh 04/05/08
      49.   29# Mark Licoln "A woman without a cause". 05:39  |  Akram Zekaria 04/05/08
      50.   TO Livni & Rice 06:18  |  HISTORY part1 04/05/08
      51.   TO Livni & Rice 06:20  |  HISTORY part2 04/05/08
      52.   Ms Rice pressure S.Arabia to open its borders to arabs 06:35  |  No vacancy in Israel 04/05/08
      53.   11# Natallie Durson " Peace is further than ever". 06:37  |  Akram Zekaria 04/05/08
      54.   NO to Rice 06:40  |  Brod 04/05/08
      55.   Rice doesn`t want ERECTED roadblocks? 06:43  |  Magnify 04/05/08
      56.   TO Olmert & Rice 06:44  |  Our Heritage 04/05/08
      57.   TO Olmert & Rice 06:45  |  Our Heritage part 2 04/05/08
      58.   #38 Axel - Security fence keeps MOST terrorists away 06:48  |  * BEN JABO 04/05/08
      59.   Is Rice`s Pressure Abusive ? , Coercive ? 07:28  |  Joseph . E 04/05/08
      60.   Rice should get in a car and drive through a check point 07:36  |  Abu Firas Al Qudsi 04/05/08
      61.   Wrong roadblock.... 07:49  |  Blogowitz 04/05/08
      62.   28 Sam, the checkpoints provide a false sense of security 08:42  |  Dutch 04/05/08
      63.   I`d like to see an end to murders due to Israeli concessions. 09:01  |  Chaim 04/05/08
      64.   AXEL#40 11:30  |  roland 04/05/08
      65.   to Linda Rivera #32 - one more proof 12:06  |  zeev 04/05/08
      66.   to Chaim #63 12:38  |  zeev 04/05/08