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Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations Begin on Joint Declaration for November Peace Conference

[Ha'aretz] Aluf Benn and Avi Isaacharoff - Israeli Prime Minister Olmert and PA Chairman Abbas met Wednesday to start the official negotiating process to formulate a joint declaration for the planned November peace conference. There are significant gaps between the two sides' starting positions, and a particularly bitter dispute revolves around the essence and substance of the joint declaration they are expected to draft. Olmert rejects titles such as "declaration of principles" or "agreement of principles." Instead, he is proposing a general "declaration of interests" that would serve as a starting point for future negotiations. He also insists that the declaration include a reference to two previous documents: President George W. Bush's letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on April 14, 2004, and the Roadmap for a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Bush letter to Sharon stated that the border between Israel and the future Palestinian state could not be identical to the 1949 armistice line. The Roadmap lays out a three-stage program for establishing a Palestinian state, and states that in the first stage, the PA must wage war on terrorism and reform PA institutions.
2007-10-03 01:00:00
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