Palestine-Mandate

Haartez newspaper is reporting on Monday that Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has joined Defense Minister Ehud Barak in saying that Palestinian assurances should be obtained at Annapolis concerning Israel’s existence as “a Jewish State”:

“Olmert held a meeting on Sunday to discuss the Annapolis summit and the negotiations toward a final-settlement agreement. [Foreign Minister Tzipi] Livni, [Defense Minister Ehud] Barak, [and] the chief of staff and the heads of the intelligence services attended the meeting. Olmert told the gathering that immediately at the start of negotiations following the summit, Israel will set a precondition that the Palestinians recognize Israel as ‘a Jewish state’.”

The Haaretz report continued: ” ‘I do not intend to compromise in any way over the issue of the Jewish state’, Olmert said, thereby accepted the position of Livni and Barak. ‘This will be a condition for our recognition of a Palestinian state’. Olmert said he raised the importance of this issue during his talks with European and American officials, and their response had been positive. However, during talks in recent weeks between the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams, the Palestinians refused to include the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state in the shared declaration the teams are preparing, which will be made at Annapolis. This recognition is meant to bolster Israel’s position that rejects the return of Palestinian refugees to areas inside the Green Line - the border before the 1967 Six-Day War
… Meanwhile, despite Palestinian claims that there is a crisis in the talks, Livni and Qureia exchanged drafts of the joint declaration that Israel and the Palestinians are to present at the Annapolis summit. Government officials did not deny reports in recent days that Israel had surprisingly softened its stance on the core issues - particularly on borders and Jerusalem. The prime minister was scheduled to appear before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Monday morning to present the principles that will guide Israel in the negotiations with the Palestinians”.
The Haaretz report on Israeli leaders demand for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state is here.

Tags: Annapolis, Ehud Barak, Ehud Olmert, Israel, Jewish State, Palestinians

This entry was posted on Monday, November 12th, 2007 at 9:11 am and is filed under Israel, Middle East peace process, Palestine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.