Herb Keinon , THE JERUSALEM POST
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's comments about Israel needing to make a nearly complete withdrawal to the pre-1967-lines will certainly be a reference point in the future, although Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni have insisted they are not binding, EU envoy Marc Otte told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. Otte's comments came after a press briefing in which he termed Olmert's comments, made in a pre-Rosh Hashana interview, "courageous," and said he was not surprised by them.
"Everyone who has been engaged in the negotiations is bound to come to that sort of conclusion," Otte said, adding that - as Olmert did in the interview - it is not easy for anyone to say that the positions he held before were wrong.
"I am encouraged that the Israeli leadership is willing to face the challenges," Otte said.
Olmert, in the interview last week with Yediot Aharonot, said that for a peace deal Israel would have to withdraw from nearly all of the Golan Heights, east Jerusalem and the West Bank.
On Sunday, Livni told French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner that she did not feel bound by Olmert's words.
Otte denied reports that the Palestinians had rejected Olmert's offer, saying there had never been a formal offer.
"I don't think you make offers through the press, but do it in negotiations and present a paper," he said.
Otte said he didn't know whether the ideas articulated in the interview had even been discussed in the negotiations.
Meanwhile, the European Union's ambassador to Israel, Ramiro Cibrián-Uzal, said that while there had been positive movement over the last few months, he would not say that the sides were close to a deal.
Cibrián-Uzal said that while the talks were being held in confidence, "I am not sure the gaps are narrow."
Otte termed a "positive development" a decision by the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators to brief the Quartet together on where they stand in the negotiations at its next meeting, expected in November.
The Quartet is made up of the US, EU, Russia and the UN.
This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017494276&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Comment: Those who have dismissed Israeli leaders statements presenting "performance standards " for peace with our enemy should now understand how dangerous such words are. The EU and other Western "friends" jump on these words as though they were etched in stone and legally binding. They consider these words as the benchmark for future negotiations-they become the "starting point" for further discussions. Of course they are nothing of the kind but our "friends" don't want or choose to hear it this way. They have their own agenda and use our "leaders" statements against us. If Israel does not have strong leadership willing to stand up against such a strategy, we ultimately will fail. I suggest we refrain from embracing "our friends" when they try to force us into a negotiation corner. I await other leaders to renounce this EU envoy's comment-don't worry he will not change his mind about who we are or what we should be satisfied to possess!
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