Olmert: PA & Israel agree to bypass Israeli road map commitments

Tuesday November 13, 2007 11:49 by John Smith - IMEMC & agencies

The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday announced that the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Israeli government had agreed to a peace plan that involved Israel bypassing the commitments laid out to it in the first stage of the road map plan.

Israeli PM Ehud Olmert

Speaking to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the Knesset, Olmert told MKs that Israel would not be obliged to implement any of its road map commitments until the PA fully dismantled the so-called 'terror infrastructure'.

"We will try to reach an understanding on all elements of the solution, but we will not have to implement anything before the fulfillment of the first stage of the road map … if stage one of the road map is implemented - if the Palestinians dismantle terror infrastructure - then and only then will Israel have to implement the agreement."

The first stage of the plan demands that Israeli authorities dismantle settlements and the PA eliminates so-called 'infrastructure of terror'.

The agreement, if true, means that the Palestinian and Israeli negotiating teams will discuss final status issues at the Annapolis summit before the removal of the illegal Israeli settlements that litter the West Bank.

Later on Tuesday, Palestian President Mahmoud Abbas indicated that key to the success of the conference was an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands. Speaking at a news conference with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Ankara, Turkey, Abbas told gathered reporters that "If ... the occupation comes to an end, Israel will live in a sea of peace."

An unnamed Palestinian source told the Israeli daily Haaretz that the reaching of a compromise which would lead to such a situation was prevented by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni who, in the official's words, are holding PM Olmert back.

"Olmert is willing but the problem is with Livni and Barak … There needs to be a clear decision by the political echelon in Israel, and only then will we be able to move forward," the PA representative stated.

The summit is scheduled to begin on November 26.

israel | peace process | news report johnsmithimemc at gmail dot com