Israeli and Palestinians Renew Drive for Peace

By Isabel Kershner

Meeting here on Monday after a break of almost two months, the Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed that peace talks would continue from now on without interruption, despite concerns on both sides about the situation on the ground, an Israeli official said.

The goal, said Mark Regev, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel, was to reach a “historic agreement” by the end of the year.

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and other Palestinian officials say they are aiming for the same goal and have described the negotiations as “serious.” But there are clearly emerging differences in approach.

Israel now prefers to leave tricky on-the-ground issues to the end of the process and to focus on the political talks, which it believes hold the best chance for a breakthrough. There are Palestinian demands for a dramatic improvement in the reality of life in the West Bank, including the removal major checkpoints, and for a complete freeze in settlement activity as called for in the American-backed peace plan known as the road map.

The road map calls on the Palestinians to rein in militants and to cease all violence against Israel.

Israel says it has recently removed tens of dirt mounds blocking roads in the West Bank, as well as one checkpoint, out of about 580 roadblocks and checkpoints that dot the territory. But there are Israeli concerns about attacks on its citizens and a lack of Palestinian security control, Israeli officials say.

A total settlement freeze, on the other hand, could strain Olmert’s governing coalition to the breaking point, causing the ultra-Orthodox Shas party to bolt, a scenario the prime minister is trying to avoid.

The Palestinians warn that Israel’s actions are endangering the process.

Israel’s continued settlement activity is “undermining our efforts to revive the credibility of the peace process in the minds of our people,” Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian negotiator, told reporters after attending the meeting in Jerusalem.

Olmert and Abbas last met Feb. 19. They had pledged to meet every two weeks after the American-sponsored peace conference at Annapolis, Maryland, last fall.

But Abbas suspended contacts after Israeli Army operations to stop rocket fire from Gaza killed more than 120 Palestinians, including many civilians, in late February and early March.

The negotiating teams resumed their work after a March visit to the region by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Both the Israeli and Palestinian sides have maintained strict secrecy about the content of the talks on the core issues of the conflict, including borders, the status of Jerusalem, and the fate of the Palestinian refugees from 1948 and their descendants.

At Annapolis, it was decided that the talks would take place in parallel with the implementation of obligations under the road map. An American general has been tasked with monitoring progress on both sides.

“Nobody is giving up on road map commitments but it’s going to be a long, hard slog,” an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to speak about the subject.

The Palestinians want to reach as comprehensive and detailed an agreement as possible. Olmert said he was trying to achieve an outline agreement that would define the basic parameters of the two- state solution, but not a comprehensive agreement that could be implemented this year.

Still, the leaders are eager to show progress. Abbas has been invited to the White House in early May, and President George W. Bush is expected to visit Israel later that month.

“Both sides are very aware of what’s on the calendar,” the Israeli official said.

Originally published by The New York Times Media Group.

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