Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed to hold confidence-building talks every two weeks that could eventually lead to discussions on a Palestinian state.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shakes hands with Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz prior to their meeting today. Getty Images.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told European lawmakers Israel had agreed "to conduct a dialogue on the conditions for establishing a Palestinian state", a ministry statement said.
Other Israeli officials cited disagreements between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice over the scope of the deliberations.
A senior Israeli official said substantive talks on statehood between Mr Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would not be on the agenda for now.
"The issues would be security, humanitarian and the political horizon," the official said in a loose reference to a US-backed vision of a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.
"Political horizon is not about specifics," the official added, appearing to rule out discussion soon on core issues such as the future of Jerusalem, the borders of a Palestinian state and the fate of Palestinian refugees.
On her fourth visit in four months, Dr Rice tried to revive peace hopes dimmed last year by the establishment of a Hamas-led government and further complicated by the creation this month of a unity administration with Abbas's Fatah faction.
The powersharing partnership has not met demands from a quartet of Middle East mediators to recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept existing interim peace accords.
At a news conference postponed from yesterday evening after discord with Mr Olmert, Dr Rice said the prime minister and Abbas "have agreed that they plan to meet together bi-weekly".
"We are not yet at final-status negotiations. These are initial discussions to build confidence," Dr Rice said. Her visit ended a day before Arab states open a summit in Riyadh where they intend to relaunch a 2002 plan for peace with Israel.
Mr Olmert told reporters on Monday he would maintain constant contacts with Abbas but did not say how frequently they would meet.