Israel worried about peace talks

The "basic principles" that Olmert seems to be discussing here are remarkably vague. Israel is moving ahead with settlements, but is employing semantics to say that, since they are not going to plan any settlements beyond those they are already planning in the Occupied Territories, that they have "halted" settlements. The collective punishment continues. Israel is essentially demanding that the Palestinians do all of their end of the bargain first, and then they will "talk" about what Israel will do. And this shabby pretext of negotiations is opposed in Israel as "giving away too much in advance".

And this sorry scene is supposed to be Bush's grand diplomatic achievement.

FM: Ending peace talks now would bolster Hamas
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent and Reuters

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Monday that Israel would continue its negotiations with the Palestinian Authority despite ongoing rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, because ending the talks would only strengthen the position of Hamas.

Livni, who heads Israel's negotiating team, told the Knesset plenum after meeting with her Palestinian counterpart Ahmed Qureia that she was not "giving presents" to the Palestinians during talks: "I am not Santa Claus or some uncle that is giving out perks," she said.

The foreign minister added that some Israelis act "as though the negotiations are a kind of gift to the Palestinians or a present to the Americans," adding: "I don't accept that."

Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, countering Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on the issue of Jerusalem, was quoted on Monday as declaring that talks on the status of the city must not be postponed.

Speaking to a Jordanian newspaper, Abbas also said that the issue of Palestinian refugees must remain on the agenda of the talks, which he said were proceeding too slowly.

Olmert said on Sunday that Abbas had consented to hold off discussing Jerusalem until the end of the negotiating process, a move that could anger Palestinians but help the Israeli leader hold together his fragile coalition government for now.

But Nimer Hammad, Abbas's senior political advisor, said Monday "This is not true at all. The issue of Jerusalem is a fundamental issue and cannot be postponed. The president did not agree [with Olmert] to postpone it."

Abbas and Olmert planned to hold talks on Tuesday in Jerusalem. They have pledged to meet frequently to help advance Palestinian statehood negotiations that resumed after a U.S.-hosted Middle East peace conference in November.

The two sides, urged by U.S. President George W. Bush to reach a peace agreement before he leaves office in January 2009, have agreed to address core issues such as borders and the future of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.

But in a speech on Sunday, Olmert said the goal of peace talks with Abbas was to reach an understanding on "basic principles" for a Palestinian state by the end of 2008, rather than a full-fledged agreement.

"I don't know if we will be able to reach an understanding with the Palestinians. I hope we will. We'll do everything in our power to. But we will not start with the issue which is the most difficult," Olmert said of Jerusalem.

"We will postpone dealing with Jerusalem to the last phase of the negotiations," Olmert said, stressing that Abbas had "accepted" his suggestion.

Palestinian chief negotiatiator Saeb Erekat said Tuesday's meeting was not expected to deal with the final-status issues.

Instead, he expected the talks to focus on day-to-day areas of concern, such as Israeli construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Palestinian Information Minister Riad Malki said Abbas would also try to stave off an Israeli invasion of Gaza.

PM: No new settlements, but construction to go on

On Sunday, Olmert told visiting North American Jewish leaders that Israel will not construct any new settlements but will continue building in existing settlement blocs and Jerusalem.

Speaking in Jerusalem to a gathering of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Olmert said that, "Jerusalem holds a special place and in its Jewish areas reality on the ground will change in the coming years. "Not one of my critics built more than me in Jerusalem or contributed more to its development," Olmert, a former mayor of the capital, added.