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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Friday (AP)
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Incoming PM Ehud Olmert after the swearing in of the new government, Thursday (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners May 7, 2006 |
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas phoned Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Friday and urged him to resume peace talks quickly, now that his centrist government has assumed power.
Olmert's aides said a meeting with Abbas is possible, but ruled out negotiations as long as the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority refuses to recognize Israel or renounce violence.
With the Islamic militant Hamas refusing to budge, a speedy resumption of talks that broke down in 2000 appears unlikely.
Olmert reiterated Thursday, after his government was approved by parliament, that he is determined to set Israel's final borders even without negotiations, and that this would entail the dismantling of smaller Jewish settlements scattered across Judea and Samaria. Olmert has said he intends to hold on to large settlements as part of his "consolidation" plan. "Partitioning the land is a lifeline for Zionism," he told parliament Thursday.
Olmert was to meet with U.S. leaders in Washington later this month to try to win backing for his consolidation plan. He has said he would not proceed without broad international support. U.S. officials have said final borders between Israel and a Palestinian state must be drawn in peace talks, but have not rejected Olmert's ideas outright.
Abbas called Olmert on Friday and urged him to resume negotiations, said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.
Olmert also got a call Friday from Jordan's King Abdullah II. The two leaders agreed to meet after Olmert's Washington trip, Olmert's office said.
Abbas, elected separately, has been wrangling with the Hamas government over the division of powers, particularly over control of the security forces. At the same time, he has appealed to the West to restore aid payments to the Palestinians, frozen after the Hamas government took office in late March, two months after its election victory.
Hamas has been unable to pay 165,000 government employees, the backbone of the Palestinian labor force, since assuming power. Many Palestinians are scraping by on dwindling savings, loans and handouts.
In an attempt to avert a humanitarian crisis, the EU Commission is considering sending aid for specific purposes, such as health and education, directly to Abbas, thus bypassing the Hamas government, according to an EU document obtained by The Associated Press.
The document predicted a crisis in the Palestinian territories in the next 2-3 months, including "greatly increased unemployment and poverty levels, and possibly the breakdown of law and order."
"In such a crisis, the international community will have a strong imperative to intervene," the document said. "The dilemma is how to do this without engaging the (Hamas-led) Palestinian Authority."
EU Commission officials in Jerusalem declined comment on the report, but said a decision on possible aid to the Palestinians is expected later this month.
The EU proposal came a week after French President Jacques Chirac said the World Bank should set up a fund to pay the salaries of the Palestinian government employees.
AP contributed to this report.
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