MIDDLE EAST:ISRAELI PRIME minister Ehud Olmert told a parliamentary committee yesterday there was "no practical possibility" of reaching an agreement with the Palestinians by the end of the year on a peace deal that included the vexing issue of Jerusalem.
Mr Olmert's comments, made during a session of parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee, were the strongest indication by the Israeli leader to date that the year-end deadline for a comprehensive deal, agreed at a US-hosted peace summit late last year, was no longer realistic.
"I don't believe that we can reach an understanding that will include Jerusalem by the end of the year," a senior official quoted Mr Olmert telling the committee, which holds its sessions behind closed doors.
"There is no practical possibility to reach an overall understanding on the issue of Jerusalem at this time," he said.
Until recently, Mr Olmert has been very upbeat about talks with the Palestinians, saying that the two sides had never been so close to an agreement. But some observers suggested the prime minister might have been exaggerating progress in talks with the Palestinians as he fights for political survival in the face of corruption charges.
Mr Olmert did express optimism that other core issues, including borders, security and the fate of Palestinian refugees, could be resolved by the end of the year. The differences between the sides on these three issues, he said, were "not insurmountable".
But Palestinian officials were adamant yesterday there would not be an agreement if Jerusalem was excluded. Calling the issue of Jerusalem a "red line", Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, said: "Olmert's statements are an attempt to run away from the commitments of the Annapolis conference and the vision of [US] president Bush."
When the sides met last November in Annapolis, Maryland they agreed to reach an agreement by the end of 2008, before Mr Bush leaves office. But, as the negotiations became bogged down, the sides scaled back expectations and began talking about reaching a framework agreement by the end of the year.
The eastern part of Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as a future capital, was captured by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War and annexed shortly thereafter. Control of the holy sites in the city was one of the main stumbling blocks when Yasser Arafat and former prime minister Ehud Barak failed to reach an agreement at Camp David in 2000.
"Instead of letting the most difficult issues torpedo the entire process, we think it's important to find an agreed mechanism to keep discussing these issues into 2009," said Mark Regev, a spokesman for Mr Olmert.
The US also appeared yesterday to be lowering expectations. "I think we've always said that we wouldn't be able to get a final peace deal in terms of everything being resolved, but we would have this way forward that would outline all the steps that they would have to take to move forward," said White House press secretary Dana Perino.