Peace talks to continue despite Olmert scandal

ISRAEL’S prime minister Ehud Olmert sought to assure Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas yesterday that peace talks would not be affected by a corruption scandal that could force the Israeli leader from office.

“This process will continue,” spokesman for Olmert, Mark Regev, said after the leaders met in Jerusalem, adding that Olmert recommitted during the meeting to trying to reach a deal on Palestinian statehood by the end of the year.

“I can say unequivocally that there was progress reached in this meeting today,” Regev told reporters, giving no details.

Olmert has so far rebuffed calls to leave office over allegations he took envelopes of cash from a Jewish-American businessman. Olmert and the businessman have denied wrongdoing.

Israeli officials close to Olmert said his strategy was to push ahead with peace negotiations as if nothing had changed and hope that the investigation does not end in charges against him.

The US-backed peace talks, launched in November, have also been overshadowed by Israeli settlement-building.

Abbas said before the meeting that settlement expansion, including newly announced building near Jerusalem, imperilled the talks.

Israel disclosed plans on Sunday to construct nearly 900 new homes in areas of the occupied West Bank that the Israeli government considers part of Jerusalem, despite US and Palestinian calls to halt all settlement expansion.

“If Israel does not halt these activities, it will be difficult to reach the political settlement,” Abbas said at a news conference with visiting German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier just before meeting Olmert.

After talks with Abbas at his Jerusalem residence, Olmert will fly to Washington, where he will meet US President George W Bush.

The political crisis enveloping Olmert could trigger an early election and the disruption of peace talks launched at a conference hosted by Bush in November. Olmert says he will resign if indicted.

Israeli officials said Olmert’s plight may have spurred his backing of the new construction tenders, which include an additional 763 housing units in Pisgat Zeev and 121 houses in Har Homa, an area Palestinians refer to as Jabal Abu Ghneim.

The 2003 peace “road map” requires a halt to all settlement activity on occupied land where Palestinians seek statehood. The building could help Olmert shore up support from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, a key member of his coalition opposed to major concessions to the Palestinians on Jerusalem.