Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed to meet every two weeks to discuss day-to-day issues, but also to move toward talks on a final peace settlement, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced yesterday after shuttling between the two sides for three days.
Rice said the US would set benchmarks for implementing a ceasefire, including the halting of rocket fire from Gaza, and for improving the flow of Palestinian travelers and goods through Israeli crossings.
She said doors had been opened during her visit and she was laying the groundwork for future peace talks. Rice's latest trip to the region, her fourth in as many months, came just ahead of a critical Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia.
To encourage Israel to hammer out a deal with the Palestinians, Rice wants Arab countries to reinstate a broad 2002 land-for-peace offer to Israel and be willing to negotiate with the Jewish state. A version of the plan is expected to be part of the summit in Riyadh, which begins today.
"The Arab states should begin reaching out to Israel to reassure Israel that its place in the region will be more, not less secure by an end to the occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state, to show Israel that they accept its place in the Middle East," she told reporters in Jerusalem before her departure.
Rice said the agreement to step up the frequency and political content of meetings between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was more than she had expected. She said she believes it is possible for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal to be reached before US President George W. Bush leaves office.
"They achieved something, which is the very regularized meetings between the two of them, in which they will not just talk about their day-to-day issues, but also about a political horizon," Rice said, explaining that the talks could help build confidence to smooth the way for talks on a final peace deal. Still, she said the time was not yet ripe to discuss the specifics of such an accord.
Rice said she would occasionally join the Israeli-Palestinian meetings.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that while Israel had tried to limit discussions to humanitarian and security issues, Rice ensured that talks would include a "political horizon," if not a final status deal.
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