By Xinhua
Jerusalem : As time is running out, peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians must not be stopped for one moment, Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Sunday.
Speaking at a Geneva Accord conference in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv, on Sunday evening, Peres was quoted by local Yedioth Ahronoth as saying that time for negotiations is limited.
“We have a year, and that’s very little time. We cannot spend this year talking. We have to negotiate, both openly and secretly, and we must not stop for one moment,” he said.
U.S. President George W. Bush told Peres on Wednesday that he hoped a Mideast peace pact can be achieved before he leaves office in January 2009.
“No one will deal with the key issues at the beginning of the negotiations. On most issues there is an agreement, but writing the document is extremely difficult. I am not surprised that the Palestinians insist on their demands. So do we,” Peres added.
“Both (Israeli Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert and (Palestinian President Mahmoud) Abbas want peace,” the president said.
Heads of Israeli, Palestinian negotiating teams, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei, will meet on Monday to begin talks on the core issues of the conflict.
They are expected to discuss issues including the status of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, the Palestinian refugees, the borders, security and the water resources.
Addressing the political arena, the president said “There is noroom for ideological arguments, from the moment the right-wing also wants two states. The question is why we can’t reach peace.”
Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman has threatened to resign from the government if negotiations on the core issues were launched.