From the Business Day
Jonathan Katzenellenbogm
International Affairs Editor
VISITING Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said yesterday there was little chance of SA playing the role of broker between Israelis and Palestinians because there is no such role to play at present.Olmert said the peace process was not stalling for a lack of countries willing to play the role. It had stalled because of the "total reluctance" of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to embark on meaningful negotiations.
"If terror stops, then we will embark on the roadmap," he said, referring to the peace plan that has been endorsed by most of the international community and has a series of steps to which each side has said it would adhere.
SA has been attempting, through its Spier process, to bring Palestinians and Israelis together to learn about SA`s transition to democracy. But so far no official Israeli delegation has been part of the Spier process.
Even if SA did not have a rote to play as a political mediator, it could work to promote peopleto-people contact, he said.
Olmert called his visit to SA and the signing of an investment protection agreement between the two countries "a major political gesture by SA", and welcomed the start of a "new dialogue".
The Head Heeb refers to this JPOST article to note just how much Olmert has been willing to concede on.
In a major reversal, Industry, Trade, and Labor Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that he envisions at least six outlying east Jerusalem Arab neighborhoods being transferred to full Palestinian control in the future. The move represents a dramatic about-face for the formerly hawkish Jerusalem mayor, who for years had declared that the capital must not be divided.
Olmert told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that he is willing to cede control over at least six Arab neighborhoods that lie on the periphery of the capital.
"Jerusalem is dear to me, but one must not lose sight of proportions over peripheral areas we do not need," Olmert said in the interview.
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