http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1016586.html

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected Israel’s idea of an interim peace agreement at summit with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Sunday, a Palestinian negotiator said, insisting on an all-or-nothing approach that virtually ruled out an accord by a January target date.

The latest meeting between Abbas and Olmert was their shortest, lasting less than an hour. Before the talks in Jerusalem, Olmert’s aides had said earlier the premier hoped the Palestinians would sign a document outlining any agreements reached with Israel before he leaves office.

But Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Abbas flatly rejected that at the brief summit on Sunday.

“We want an agreement to end the occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” Erekat told The Associated Press. “President Abbas told Olmert that we will not be part of an interim or shelf agreement,” he said. “Either we agree on all issues, or no agreement at all.”

For his part, Olmert pledged at Sunday’s meeting that Israelis and Palestinians would try to seal a peace deal this year in line with a target set by Washington.

“We have to complete the Annapolis process this year – this year,” Olmert, grasping Abbas in a handshake and using his other hand to gesture to the Palestinian leader, said emphatically in English as they posed for photographers at talks in Jerusalem.

The prime minister was referring to U.S.-sponsored Palestinian statehood talks that began at a conference in Annapolis, Maryland last November after a seven-year breakdown. Both leaders pledged to continue the talks until the end of the year, despite Olmert’s plans to step down after a September primary in his Kadima party.

In a more upbeat take on the Sunday summit than Erekat’s, Olmert spokesman Mark Regev said after the meeting that significant progress had been made in the talks but there are still considerable gaps between the two sides. He would not elaborate on the differences and gave no direct answer when asked if Olmert broached the idea of an interim agreement at the meeting.

During the meeting, Olmert protested Abbas’ recent meeting with notorious Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar, whom Israel released in July as part of a prisoner swap with Hezbollah.

The prime minister told Abbas: “You are not a man of terror, and I didn’t expect you to meet with such a despicable killer as him.”

Abbas answered that the meeting was unplanned and that Kuntar had in fact invited himself. Olmert replied that it was still possible for the Palestinian leader not to have met with Kuntar.

Kuntar was convicted of murdering three Israelis in a particularly brutal terror attack in Nahariya 1979.

PM draws fire over proposal for int’l involvement in talks on J’lem

The talks came as Olmert’s plan to propose international involvement in negotiations over the capital drew fire from cabinet ministers.

Olmert was expected to try to convince the Palestinian leader to accept an agreement of principles on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, that will represent a framework for a two-state solution.

As far as Olmert is concerned, the talks with Abbas have entered the “final straight,” and there are about two weeks left to reach an agreement before the prime minister steps down.

Shas Chairman Eli Yishai condemned the plan, charging that the prime minister has no legal or public authority to make a deal with the Palestinians, and certainly not to decide the fate of Jerusalem.

“The leadership of the Palestinian Authority is virtual,” Yishai said. “Any agreement with them will be the basis for more terror. It is clear to everyone that Jerusalem’s fate cannot be negotiated like it was a currency, and certainly not with international participation.”

The meeting between the two leaders will likely be their final session before the Kadima primary on September 17, after which Olmert will leave his post.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni warned Sunday that the two sides must not let time constraints set the agenda for talks. Livni is the front-runner in the race to replace Olmert as Kadima leader.

“I support negotiations, but a final agreement has to explicitly reflect Israel’s interests,” she said. “We can’t allow time constraints to rush us into making grave mistakes in trying to bridge gaps that are too big in a way that will bring about a clash, nor can we compromise on critical issues only for the sake of results. This is not how I operate in negotiations.”

Central in Olmert’s proposal to the Palestinians is that the talks on sovereignty and control over the holy sites in Jerusalem be held under an international umbrella, where governments and other interested parties will be able to contribute their views. The negotiations will be held directly between Israel and the Palestinians, and international parties will not be able to impose their views on a solution. The role of the international parties would be to bolster the agreement that the two sides will agree upon in direct negotiations.

According to Olmert’s proposal, a five-year timetable will be set out for completing a settlement on Jerusalem.