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Israel, Abbas agree to peace talks timeline

Jerusalem: Israel and the Palestinian Authority have agreed a pledge to negotiate “immediately and continuously” to reach a final peace agreement within a year. The pledge will be included in a joint declaration to be issued in 10 days time at a key summit in the U.S.

With diplomatic activity intensifying in advance of the event in Annapolis — pencilled in for November 26 but billed as a “meeting” rather than a conference — officials from both sides say they are putting the finishing touches to a document that commits them to a two-state solution to the world’s most intractable conflict.

But the draft declaration avoids going into detail on the core issues. Israel has rejected any mention of the 1967 borders, seen by the Palestinians and many others as the indispensable basis for agreement. Expectations for success by next November are very low. But signs are multiplying that Syria and Saudi Arabia will both attend, giving wider Arab backing to the U.S. effort.

Ehud Olmert, Israel’s Prime Minister, warned this week that it was unlikely that there could be a better Palestinian leadership — from Israel’s standpoint — in the foreseeable future.

Israel needed to take advantage of the opportunity to create a Palestinian state in order to maintain a Jewish majority in Israel and “avoid ending up like South Africa,” he told the Knesset foreign affairs and defence committee.

But Israeli officials directly involved in the negotiations say they are pessimistic about the outcome because Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian President and Fatah leader, represents only half his people since the takeover by the Islamist movement Hamas of the Gaza Strip.

“If we gave them the West Bank we would have to be back there in 20 minutes because they are incapable of tackling terrorism,” said one senior figure. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2007

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