Rice says Israeli-Palestinian document unlikely soon

By Sue Pleming

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - 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 traveling with her, referring to chances a paper would be finalized 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 traveling 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.