Rice says Israeli-Palestinian document unlikely soon
(Adds Rice comments, previous JERUSALEM)
By Sue Pleming
TEL AVIV, Nov 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Saturday she did not expect Israel and the Palestinians would agree in a weekend of talks with her on a joint document for a conference on Palestinian statehood.
Arriving in Israel for a new round of meetings with both sides, Rice said "knotty discussions" on the paper, intended to lay down the principles by which a Palestinian state can be established, were still ahead.
"I absolutely don't expect there will be agreement on a document," she told reporters travelling with her, referring to chances a paper would be finalised by the end of her visit.
The United States has not officially set a date for the conference slated for Annapolis, Maryland, an indication of the difficulties in bridging gaps between the two sides on the paper that will set the tone for the gathering.
Both sides have said they want the conference to serve as a launching pad for negotiations on core issues of their conflict, such as borders and the future of Jerusalem and millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants.
But Israel has balked at Palestinian demands for a timeline for dealing with those issues, saying failure to meet deadlines could touch off new violence.
"The document is important. Annapolis is important, but there is also going to have to be a day after," she told reporters travelling with her to Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who will meet Rice on Sunday, faces stiff opposition within his own coalition to any concessions on borders or a division of Jerusalem as long as Israelis feel threatened by Palestinian militants.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet Rice in the occupied West Bank on Monday.
He is under pressure to show his people he can deliver an end to Israeli occupation and can also withstand a challenge to his authority from Hamas Islamists, hostile to Israel, who seized control of the Gaza Strip five months ago.
PROPER LANGUAGE
"It's between finding the proper language without causing either one of them political problems domestically," said a senior U.S. official who was travelling with Rice in Turkey, before she flew on to Israel later in the day.
"This is a very painstaking process which we need to approach with the right discretion," the senior U.S. official said. "But there is a growing urgency about this."
Both sides have said they want a deal before U.S. President George W. Bush steps down in a little over a year.
But Olmert has said implementation of any accord will be conditional on Abbas ensuring there is no threat to Israel -- a condition few Israelis believe he can fulfil with his Fatah faction weakened by Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip.
U.S. officials have said they hope to host the conference over two days in the week starting Nov. 26.
By Sue Pleming
TEL AVIV, Nov 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Saturday she did not expect Israel and the Palestinians would agree in a weekend of talks with her on a joint document for a conference on Palestinian statehood.
Arriving in Israel for a new round of meetings with both sides, Rice said "knotty discussions" on the paper, intended to lay down the principles by which a Palestinian state can be established, were still ahead.
"I absolutely don't expect there will be agreement on a document," she told reporters travelling with her, referring to chances a paper would be finalised by the end of her visit.
The United States has not officially set a date for the conference slated for Annapolis, Maryland, an indication of the difficulties in bridging gaps between the two sides on the paper that will set the tone for the gathering.
Both sides have said they want the conference to serve as a launching pad for negotiations on core issues of their conflict, such as borders and the future of Jerusalem and millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants.
But Israel has balked at Palestinian demands for a timeline for dealing with those issues, saying failure to meet deadlines could touch off new violence.
"The document is important. Annapolis is important, but there is also going to have to be a day after," she told reporters travelling with her to Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who will meet Rice on Sunday, faces stiff opposition within his own coalition to any concessions on borders or a division of Jerusalem as long as Israelis feel threatened by Palestinian militants.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet Rice in the occupied West Bank on Monday.
He is under pressure to show his people he can deliver an end to Israeli occupation and can also withstand a challenge to his authority from Hamas Islamists, hostile to Israel, who seized control of the Gaza Strip five months ago.
PROPER LANGUAGE
"It's between finding the proper language without causing either one of them political problems domestically," said a senior U.S. official who was travelling with Rice in Turkey, before she flew on to Israel later in the day.
"This is a very painstaking process which we need to approach with the right discretion," the senior U.S. official said. "But there is a growing urgency about this."
Both sides have said they want a deal before U.S. President George W. Bush steps down in a little over a year.
But Olmert has said implementation of any accord will be conditional on Abbas ensuring there is no threat to Israel -- a condition few Israelis believe he can fulfil with his Fatah faction weakened by Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip.
U.S. officials have said they hope to host the conference over two days in the week starting Nov. 26.
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