Spring Break
Rice sees difficulties in Middle East peace talks
Matthew Lee - Associated Press
Issue date: 8/26/08 Section: News
Among the complications are political uncertainty in Israel, where Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will step down next month. He is the target of a series of highly damaging corruption probes, and his exit sets up a leadership contest.
Olmert had made peace talks with the Palestinians a priority, and his friendly relationship with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas lent credibility and a sense of momentum.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the chief negotiator in the talks, is a top candidate to replace Olmert. She sent mixed signals about the near-term future of an accord with the Palestinians even as she defended the process as vital to Israel's interests.
"We decided that time is against us, that time is against the moderates and that stagnation is not an option for the Israeli government," she said Thursday, in explaining why the government renewed talks after a seven-year lapse.
Talks are limited to Abbas' moderate Palestinian leadership based in the West Bank, and Livni implied that no agreement could actually be implemented until Abbas re-establishes political control in the Gaza Strip, which the militant Hamas group violently took over last year.
Livni said it is dangerous to rush into an agreement without hashing out key details.
Despite some limited improvements, including the removal of a new checkpoint on Monday south of Ramallah, Israel is still curtailing access to Israel and within the West Bank for Palestinians whose economic conditions are deteriorating. Israel continues to announce new settlement projects on disputed land, angering the Palestinians.
After arriving in Jerusalem, Rice met Livni and chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia and had dinner in Tel Aviv with Defense Minister Ehud Barak. On Tuesday, she sees Olmert, holds a second round of talks with Livni and then hosts a three-way meeting of the negotiation teams before heading to Ramallah to meet with Abbas.
Olmert had made peace talks with the Palestinians a priority, and his friendly relationship with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas lent credibility and a sense of momentum.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the chief negotiator in the talks, is a top candidate to replace Olmert. She sent mixed signals about the near-term future of an accord with the Palestinians even as she defended the process as vital to Israel's interests.
"We decided that time is against us, that time is against the moderates and that stagnation is not an option for the Israeli government," she said Thursday, in explaining why the government renewed talks after a seven-year lapse.
Talks are limited to Abbas' moderate Palestinian leadership based in the West Bank, and Livni implied that no agreement could actually be implemented until Abbas re-establishes political control in the Gaza Strip, which the militant Hamas group violently took over last year.
Livni said it is dangerous to rush into an agreement without hashing out key details.
Despite some limited improvements, including the removal of a new checkpoint on Monday south of Ramallah, Israel is still curtailing access to Israel and within the West Bank for Palestinians whose economic conditions are deteriorating. Israel continues to announce new settlement projects on disputed land, angering the Palestinians.
After arriving in Jerusalem, Rice met Livni and chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia and had dinner in Tel Aviv with Defense Minister Ehud Barak. On Tuesday, she sees Olmert, holds a second round of talks with Livni and then hosts a three-way meeting of the negotiation teams before heading to Ramallah to meet with Abbas.
Be the first to comment on this story