Olmert, Abbas to meet on Palestinian territory

Ehud Olmert will today become the first Israeli prime minister to visit a Palestinian city since the outbreak of fighting seven years ago.

He will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank town of Jericho to discuss the creation of a Palestinian state.

By going to the biblical desert town, the Israeli leader takes a security risk, but also gives a symbolic boost to Abbas, who stands to gain stature by hosting Olmert on his own turf.

Jericho is one of the West Bank’s most peaceful cities and the venue, a five-star hotel, is located on the outskirts of town, just a few hundred yards from a permanent Israeli army checkpoint. Still, the meeting poses a challenge to Olmert’s security detail, since West Bank cities are controlled by Abbas’ weak police forces, which in June failed to prevent Hamas militants from seizing the Gaza Strip by force.

This morning, several hours before the start of the talks, Palestinian police surrounded Jericho’s Intercontinental Hotel, keeping onlookers away. No Israeli security personnel were in evidence yet.

The Abbas-Olmert meeting is one in a series of sessions, meant to prepare for an international Mideast conference in the US in November.

However, both sides appear to have conflicting expectations.

The Palestinians hope the two leaders will sketch the outlines of a final peace deal, to be presented to the US conference, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said today.

The four core issues of a future peace deal are the final borders of a Palestinian state, a division of Jerusalem, a removal of Israeli settlements and the fate of Palestinian refugees.

“What they need to do is to establish the parameters for solving all these issues,” Erekat said. “Once the parameters are established, then it can be deferred to experts” for drafting.

However, David Baker, an official in Olmert’s office, said the core issues would not be discussed now.

The leaders will discuss humanitarian aid to the Palestinians and Israeli security concerns, as well as the institutions of a future Palestinian state, Baker said.

Baker said the meeting was a signal of Israeli good will, adding that Olmert “intends for this to be a productive meeting to enable progress with the Palestinians”.