Hana Julian
The thorny issue of negotiations over Jerusalem will be put on the back burner until the rest of the final status discussions with the Palestinian Authority are completed, according to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.. “I wouldn’t say that we have pushed the Jerusalem issue aside, but we don’t want to corner ourselves at the beginning of negotiations,” he said.
The Prime Minister said that "the matter of Jerusalem is not first but last in terms of the order in which the core issues will be discussed and there is agreement by all parties involved in the negotiations." The PA has not confirmed this.
Shas Threats
Olmert’s claim came in the face of reports that senior government negotiators are already talking with their PA counterparts on the issue, which threatens to break up the Olmert coalition government.
Shas has warned it will quit the coalition if talks take place on dividing the capital.
Shas chairman Eli Yishai, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor, expressed surprise Tuesday after reporters noted that Israeli chief negotiator Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met Monday and Tuesday with her PA counterpart in the talks, Ahmed Queri (Abu Ala). Yishai was unaware of those meetings, despite a promise by Olmert to keep him updated on the negotiations.
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