Ehud Olmert (archive photo)
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Coming To Jerusalem. Abbas (archive photo)
Photo: AP
Israel not ruling out talks with Arab League
Olmert expected to tell Abbas in Jerusalem that Israel may participate in meetings of work groups set up by Arab League to advance peace process; ‘Israel rejects Saudi peace initiative, but welcomes moderation displayed by Arab countries in Riyadh summit,’ Prime Minister’s Office official says
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is expected to tell Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during their meeting on Sunday that Israel is not ruling out the possibility of holding talks with work groups set up by the Arab League to advance the peace process.
The same message is expected to be conveyed by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to her Jordanian counterpart Abdul Ilah Khatib during their meeting in Amman, also scheduled for Sunday.
Moderate Countries
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The meeting between Olmert and Abbas, which is scheduled to begin at 1 pm, will take place at the prime minister’s official residence in Jerusalem.
Despite reports saying that Abbas may ask Israel to hand over control over several West Bank towns to the Palestinians, a source in the Prime Minister’s Office said the issue was not raised during preliminary talks.
The two leaders will discuss the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners, putting an end to the Qassam rocket attacks on the Negev and terror activities, preventing the strengthening of Hamas and decide on the outline for bi-weekly talks between the sides.
'Work groups are not mandated to negotiate'
Sources in the Prime Minister’s Office said Olmert is open to dialogue with moderate Arab countries.
“While Israel has rejected the Arab peace initiative that was revived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, it welcomes the moderation displayed by the Arab countries (during the summit),” a source said.
“This approach is aimed at examining the Saudi initiative as a basis for future negotiations as part of the Road Map for peace.”
Before the Passover holiday Livni told Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit that Israel wants to study the Arab League committees’ mandate to advance regional dialogue prior to announcing its willingness to participate in the meetings.
Aboul Gheit, for his part, said Saturday that the Arab League workgroups might contact the Israelis, but he did not expect any negotiations.
"These groups are not mandated to negotiate and I do not imagine that they will negotiate on behalf of anyone, whether the Palestinians, Syria or Lebanon," he said.
The mission of the working groups would be to "lay out the political idea behind the Arab effort and explain what is meant by land for peace," the minister added.
Reuters contributed to the report
