[NYTr] Olmert Chats with Rice, But Gets No Pressure

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Ynet news - Oct 14, 2007
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3459857,00.html

Olmert-Rice meeting: No American pressure

Prime minister believes US secretary of state does not plan to force
Israel into accepting timetable on refugees, Jerusalem and border issues

by Ronny Sofer

Following a series of meetings with senior political Israeli officials,
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Sunday afternoon with Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert.

During the meeting, Rice made it clear that she sought to reach
agreements – both with Israel and the Palestinians – on the
continuation of the preparation process for next month's Mideast peace
conference in Annapolis.

The prime minister was under the impression that Rice did not arrive in
the region in order to force Israel into processes it did not wish to
enter, including in terms of the timetable related to the core issues –
Jerusalem, the borders and the refugees – and the detailing of the
declaration of principles to be presented during the conference.

However, the fact that the Prime Minister's Office did not rush to
issue an official statement following the meeting, may indicate that
the two officials failed to reach an agreement.

In spite of the reports on a positive atmosphere, Olmert's remarks at
the start of Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting may create a dispute
between Israel and the Bush administration, which seeks to create an
organized outline which will lead to the establishment of a Palestinian
state.

Over the past few months I have been holding talks with the Palestinian
Authority president and we reached an understanding regarding the
outline of the negotiations," the prime minister said.

According to Olmert, "We decided on a balanced, cautious and
level-headed process, with the intention of reaching a joint statement
during the international meeting. Such a statement, however, was never
a condition for the meeting."

The prime minister added that the negotiations with the Palestinians
should lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside
Israel, but "without the definition of an exact timetable for the
beginning of the process and the end of the process.

"I believe that setting a timetable in advance for such a process
creates obstacles rather than solving problems. In the coming weeks I
plan to hold discussions in different frameworks in order to allow us to advance the talks with the Palestinian side, in order to reach a joint declarations which would address the foundations, which are the basis for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the future."  
 
Firmly and politely

Government ministers who met with Rice on Sunday were under the
impression that she was determined to reach positive results at the
November conference, despite her polite tone.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Eli
Yishai made it clear to the US secretary of state that they were not
ready for compromises. Barak told Rice that in any future outline,
Israel must remain, in terms of security, in the West Bank territories.

Yishai made it clear that Jerusalem was not on the agenda and that any
agreement in the conference on the core issues could cause the Olmert
government to collapse.

On Monday, Rice is expected to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah. She is
expected to return to Jerusalem in the afternoon for a meeting with
Minister for Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman.

On Tuesday the US secretary of state will travel to Cairo, and on
Wednesday she is due to return to Israel for a meeting with Foreign
Minister Tzipi Livni, who was appointed head of the Israeli
negotiations team.

Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem believe that Rice's visit will urge the
negotiations teams on both sides to progress toward a joint
declaration. They estimate, however, that Olmert will insist that the
ways to solve the core issues must not be detailed, causing Rice to
return to the Middle East in the near future in order to pressure both
sides.