Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to start drafting sections of a proposed peace accord that address the main issues of their conflict, the chief Palestinian negotiator said.
Ahmed Qureia, the veteran negotiator heading the Palestinian team, made it clear the decision did not necessarily reflect agreement on the major issues that have tormented peace talks for years — final borders, the status of disputed Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees. But this would be the first time since negotiations resumed more than six months ago that anything on these divisive questions would be put to paper.
“We agreed with the Israelis to begin writing the positions,” Qureia told reporters late on Friday.
He did not say what issue the two sides would start with.
Israeli government officials declined to comment.
Should negotiators reach agreement on an issue, they will then draft a single provision, Qureia said. If not, they will lay out on paper their divergent views, he added. On Saturday, he said negotiations were “going through a difficult period” because of tense discussions on Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.
Israel and the Palestinians resumed peace talks in late November at a US-sponsored conference in Annapolis, Maryland. Continued Israeli settlement construction and Israeli security concerns have clouded negotiations, and both sides have expressed doubt about achieving the declared goal of clinching a final accord by the end of the year.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is headed to the region next week to try to push negotiations forward.
Qureia did not explain why the two sides agreed at this point to begin addressing the core issues in writing. But the decision comes as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s political survival has been thrust into question over suspicions he accepted illicit cash payments, in part to fuel a luxurious lifestyle.
Israeli legislator Avigdor Lieberman, who takes a hard line on the Palestinians, accused Olmert of trying to maintain his grasp on power by creating an impression of progress in peacemaking.
“This is political opportunism for the purpose of survival, it is not a serious diplomatic agreement that has received consideration,” the Web site of the Yediot Ahronot newspaper quoted him on Saturday as saying.
Should Olmert’s legal woes push Israel into early elections, polls show former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who opposes major territorial concessions to the Palestinians, likely to become Israel’s next prime minister.
Positions drafted during previous rounds of peace talks have not always been preserved for future negotiators.
Qureia also confirmed earlier reports that Israeli negotiators have offered the Palestinians land in exchange for territory where major West Bank settlements stand, but he termed their offer “unacceptable.”
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