"Under Tight Wraps" yet "Not Secret"

A metsieh far a ganef...

JPost

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met for the first time Monday under tight wraps to begin working on a joint declaration to be issued at the upcoming US-sponsored summit in Annapolis.

A senior Israeli government official said the two sides would meet frequently, but refused to divulge any of the details of Monday's talks, only saying the teams were dealing with the "core issues."

"These meetings are not secret, but the idea is for them to work intensely and not under the constant eye of the media," the official said. The core issues refer to borders, security, refugees and Jerusalem.

The Israeli team is headed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's chief of staff, Yoram Turbowicz, and also includes his foreign policy adviser, Shalom Turgeman, Foreign Ministry director-general Aharon Abramovitch and Amos Gilad, head of the Defense Ministry's political-military bureau.

The Palestinian Authority team is headed by former PA prime minister Ahmed Qurei, PA negotiator Saeb Erekat, PA President Mahmoud Abbas‚ adviser Yasser Abed Rabbo and Akram Haniyeh.

The meeting took place as Olmert told the Knesset he was "firm and determined in my desire to create a momentum and provide a chance for the success of substantive political process."

The Prime Minister's Office, meanwhile, denied a report in the London-based Al-Quds al-Arabi that he and Abbas had agreed to transfer the Temple Mount's holy sites to Jordanian custody. The PMO said no agreement had been reached on the holy sites in Jerusalem.

Poll: 37% of Israelis willing to cede sovereignty in Jerusalem's holy sites

(Carl in Jerusalem reminds us to "Keep in mind that 20 % of 'Israelis' are Arabs"... Read his reflections.)

See also this JPost interview with an official from the Palestinian Authority: "We must control all of east Jerusalem"

In this hand out made available by the US Embassy in Tel Aviv 19 September 2007, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shakes hands with Vice premier Haim Ramon in Jerusalem. Israel cannot miss the opportunity presented by the US-sponsored Middle East peace conference to advance stalled talks with the Palestinians, Ramon said on Monday [Oct. 8]. (AFP/HO/File)

And last but not least, Caroline Glick:

.... Unfortunately, due to Rice's missteps, the US today has little influence over the Arab states. Washington's primary diplomatic leverage over the Arabs stems from its ability to confer legitimacy on them. The US could have used this leverage if it had stated from the outset that it would only invite states to the Middle East conference that support the US's goals of isolating Hamas and accepting Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state.

But rather than condition their invitation, Rice and President George W. Bush made it clear from the outset that they want Arab states to participate in the summit. In so doing, the US turned the turned the tables on itself. Now it is the Arabs who by accepting or rejecting the US offer will confer legitimacy on Washington.

Comments

[RR]

Carl's 20% observation reminds me that, according to a prominent Israeli political commentator (who supported the Gaza disengagement), the reason Sharon refused to hold a referendum on his plan was that, although he thought it would pass, it would pass only with the votes of that 20% bloc. The majority of the Jewish vote would have opposed it. And the a repudiation of the plan by the Jewish vote would have doomed it.