By Xinhua
Jerusalem : Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas started a fresh round of meeting here Wednesday.
The meeting, at the prime minister’s residence, signals the start of the official negotiating process between teams from both sides towards formulating an Israel-Palestinian declaration of principles ahead of the US-sponsored Middle East peace conference in November.
According to media reports, the two leaders will first hold a private meeting and then brief the negotiating teams on the principles of the negotiations that will take place over the next few weeks and are expected to conclude towards the end of October.
The meeting was to have taken place Tuesday, but was pushed off by a day due to what officials in the prime minister’s Office described as technical reasons.
There are significant gaps between the two sides’ starting positions, showing that the negotiations will be difficult and complicated.
There is a possibility that the US may delay its planned international peace conference until late November, so that Israel and the Palestinians will have more time to formulate a joint declaration.