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Not just talking about the snow in Jerusalem... Abbas and Livni whsiper sweet nothings at the meeting
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| By Israel Insider staff February 20, 2008 |
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Who's lying about what was discussed in Tuesday's meeting of Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams in Jerusalem? Despite claims by Israeli officials that the issue of Jerusalem was not raised in the meeting of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and West Bank Caretaker Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian officials say that is nonsense. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that "the meeting dealt with all the issues pertaining to a final-status agreement, including Jerusalem."
Another senior Palestinian source added that "we're not talking about the snow in Jerusalem, but rather, we're talking about the settlement activity in Jerusalem," according to the Ynetnews. Erekat said the meeting featured in depth discussions and stressed that Israel reiterated its obligation to discuss the so-called "core issues" -- borders, Jerusalem, settlements, and refugees.
A senior Palestinian official said that Jerusalem, just like other core issues, is being discussed at every meeting. "We make it clear to the Israeli side that all the construction in Jerusalem is illegal in our view, and that in the future this construction will either be razed or be handed over to the Palestinians," the official told Ynet.
Earlier Tuesday, PM Olmert said that the Palestinians did not bring up the issue of the postponement of talks on the status of Jerusalem. "The issue of postponing the discussion on Jerusalem to the end of the negotiations was not brought up in talks between me and Abbas," Olmert said following the meeting. Of course, the issue of postponing the discussion on Jerusalem is a red herring: the issue is whether substantive issues were addressed. The Prime Minister did not deny this.
A further qualification was made by a senior official in the Prime Minister's Office, who said that while he could not say what was discussed when the two leaders met privately, "the issue of Jerusalem did not arise at all" in the portion of the talks where their staffs were present.
Addressing the question of Jerusalem, an Israeli political source said that "the issue was not brought up this evening, and you may draw any conclusion you wish. The prime minister's position is that the issue of Jerusalem is the most problematic. If this issue is brought up now, the negotiations will end." |
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