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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas
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| By Israel Insider staff October 15, 2007 |
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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice embarked on the second day of her four-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, in a last minute attempt to bridge the growing chasm between the two sides in advance of the summit in November.
On Monday Rice met with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who is expected to ask Rice to compel Israel to produce concrete agreements with the PA on critical issues, like borders, Jerusalem and refugees ahead of the summit, a demand that Israel opposes.
The Palestinians have also expressed apprehension that a timetable for the agreements will not be included in negotiations at the summit, another move that Israel objects to.
"Without a document to resolve this conflict, we can't go to the conference next month," the acting Palestinian foreign minister, Riad Malki, said, according to the Associated Press. "Olmert is looking for a public relations conference and one that will allow normalization with Arab countries. We will not help him in this."
However in a meeting with Rice on Sunday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Minister of Industry and Trade Eli Yishai, and Finance Minister Roni Bar-On all warned against focusing on the core issues, highlighting the widening rift between the PA and Israel.
"The Israeli public feels that the concessions are only getting bigger from one summit to another," Yishai told Rice, Haaretz reported. "From our point of view, any discussion of Jerusalem is out of the question and any agreements on the core issues will mean the fall of the government," he warned.
Rice demanded that the PA and Israel not shy away from the divisive issues. "We have rejected this approach for decades," she said. "Decisions must be made without running away from the issues. Only dealing with the core issues will bolster the diplomatic process."
The secretary of state, however, agreed with Israel that the PA leadership was not firmly established, one of the primary reasons that Israel has cited for its reluctance to entrust the PA with full sovereignty over the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem.
The secretary of state also declared that, "The time has come for a Palestinian state. I agree that the partners are weak, but we must bolster them."
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