Posted on 12/08/2003 1:10:53 PM PST by anotherview
Dec. 8, 2003
Olmert: Palestinians not ripe for negotiations
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told reporters Monday that the present Palestinian government is not ripe for negotiations.
Olmert told Army Radio that the days of Qurei's government may be numbered because of the Cairo failure. The presentation of a full ceasefire was a critical condition for Israel.
Speaking after a Likud faction meeting dealing with the stamping of EU-bound Israeli products, Olmert said, "We are approaching the moment of truth, and it is evident that the new Palestinian government is not seriously capable of making the decissions necessary for paving the road towards negotiations."
PM Ariel Sharon, speaking at Monday's Economic Forum, said that he "may have to consider unilateral steps if it becomes clear that "our partners are unprepared to dismantle terrorist infrastructures."
Lately, Olmert has been under attack from right wing party members for having endorsed the idea of unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and the West Bank.
Olmert also told Likud members that the stamping of Israeli EU-bound goods did not include the stamping of the products themselves, but merely the shipping manifests of the goods. Earlier, FM Silvan Shalom told reporters that the agreement finally reached with the EU was the best possible attainable.
Minister Tzachi Hanegbi: Olmert adopted `Peace Now` views, more extreme than Peres, Beilin and Barak
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