Palestinian, Israeli leaders hold first meetings in West Bank

JERICHO, West Bank -- In their first meeting on Palestinian soil, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday he hopes to launch negotiations "soon" on establishing a Palestinian state, his clearest promise yet to tackle a final peace deal.

The trappings of the three-hour session were perhaps as important as the content.

Olmert became the first Israeli leader to visit a Palestinian town after seven years of bloody fighting, and Israeli and Palestinian security forces worked together to protect him, blocking all access to the five-star hotel in the biblical oasis of Jericho where the meeting took place.

Abbas, in turn, gained some stature by hosting Olmert, at least symbolically leveling the uneven relationship of occupier and occupied.

Yet despite the good will, the two sides have very different ideas about what should happen next.

In this photo released by the Palestinian Authority, Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert,left, shakes hands with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as he arrives for a meeting at a hotel in the West Bank town of Jericho, Monday, Aug. 6, 2007. Olmert on Monday will become the first Israeli prime minister to visit a Palestinian city since the outbreak of fighting seven years ago, meeting Abbas in Jericho to discuss the creation of a Palestinian state. (AP Photo/Omar Rashidi, PPO,HO)

The Palestinians said that after years of delay, it's now time to start talking about the terms of Palestinian statehood, including final borders, removal of Israeli settlements and how to divide Jerusalem.

Israel wants to move ahead more slowly, in part because previous talks in 2000 collapsed over the so-called core issues and because Olmert may not be strong enough politically to make far-reaching concessions.

However, the United States has been prodding both sides to make progress, ahead of a Mideast peace conference in the United States in November. Olmert also appears eager to prop up the moderate Abbas, particularly after the Islamic militant Hamas seized Gaza by force in June, routing the forces loyal to the Palestinian president.

Olmert delivered his mixed message to Abbas on Monday, holding out hope for a resumption of negotiations, but saying it's still too early to start.

"I came here in order to discuss with you the fundamental issues outstanding between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, hoping that this will lead us soon into negotiations about the creation of a Palestinian state," Olmert said, standing next to Abbas and framed by the Israeli and Palestinian flags.

The two leaders have met several times so far this year, and Monday's session was meant to help them get ready for the November conference.

In Gaza, Hamas dismissed the meeting as useless. Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, fired by Abbas as prime minister after the Gaza takeover, said experience has shown that peace talks bring no benefits.

Hamas could potentially spoil a peace deal. However, the current strategy of the U.S., Israel and the moderate Palestinian leadership appears to be to try to reach a deal without Hamas, and include Gaza in an agreement if and when Hamas loses power there. In the West Bank, Hamas has been driven underground.