The bi-weekly talks between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas are headed for an impasse, just in time for an upcoming visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Quartet’s new Middle East envoy, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Rice and Blair, who was only recently hired by the Quartet (comprised of the U.S., Russia, the European Union and the United Nations), are expected to visit the region toward the end of the month for a new round of shuttle diplomacy between Israel and its Arab neighbors. PA sources say that Abbas plans to pressure Olmert into discussing permanent borders and other final status issues in two weeks, at their next bi-weekly meeting, scheduled at present to be held in Jericho. The Prime Minister’s Office, meanwhile, said Tuesday that Israel is not ready to talk about final borders for a PA state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. The issue of final status negotiations has shadowed every discussion between Olmert and Abbas, since their bi-weekly meetings began. “We have been very clear that we are not willing to discuss at this stage the three core issues of borders, refugees and Jerusalem,” said Miri Eisen, spokeswoman for the Prime Minister. Abbas is being encouraged in his bid to force the issue by U.S. President George W. Bush, who said in his speech on Monday that he intends to convene an international conference for “the establishment of a Palestinian state.” The conference, said Bush, would include Israel, the PA and “certain Arab states.” Among the conditions that would need to be met before such a state could be established, said Bush, "the PA government must arrest terrorists, dismantle their infrastructure and confiscate illegal weapons as the Roadmap [peace plan] requires. They must work to stop attacks on Israel, and to free the Israeli soldier held by extremists." Israel must make more security concessions and continue to release tax monies collected on behalf of the PA government which were withheld since Hamas was elected to the leadership in January 2006, he said. "Unauthorized outposts should be removed and settlement expansion [in Judea and Samaria] must be ended." Bush added that PA residents will have to choose whether to support Hamas, which means choosing the path of terror, or support PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in his “vision of a peaceful state called Palestine.”
