Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas met to discuss the outline of any renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
The Israeli prime minister and Palestinian Authority president met Tuesday in Jerusalem in the latest in a series of accelerated summits held at the behest of the Bush administration.
Aides to both leaders said they would try to hammer out a “Declaration of Principles” that may be presented at an upcoming, U.S.-sponsored Middle East peace conference. The text aims to give some idea about the shape and character of a future Palestinian state coexisting with the Jewish state, though both sides say full negotiations are a long way off given the flux caused by the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip.
“We are nearing a the moment of truth in the dialogue between us, and today’s meeting is expected to be of a definitive character,” Yediot Achronot quoted Olmert as saying before the talks.
