By SPA
Tel Aviv : U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday she expects Israel and the Palestinians to take meaningful steps to ease Palestinian economic woes and improve Israeli security during her latest Mideast mission aimed at reviving faltering peace talks.
Rice stressed that action on both issues was critical to energizing languishing efforts to reach a peace deal by year’s end that leads to the creation of a Palestinian state, according to a report of the Associated Press.
As she spoke before heading into a flurry of meetings with senior officials from both sides, Israeli officials said they would ease at least some restrictions on the movement of West Bank Palestinians as part of efforts to improve the Palestinian economy and bolster moderates.
There is a shared responsibility here for an atmosphere and a reality that can lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state based on security for Israel and Palestinians alike and economic viability for Palestinians, Rice told a news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
I understand the security considerations and I would hope and I expect that we’re going to be able to some things, or that Israel and the Palestinians together will be able to do some things, that are meaningful both for security and for economic viability, Rice said.
The idea is to ease the lives of the Palestinians, to help, as far as we can, in order to improve their lives, to advance and have progress, she said. Like always, the formula is to do whatever we can as long as it doesn’t affect our own security.
Rice was due to meet Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and hold three-way talks with Barak and Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad later Sunday.
After seeing Livni, Barak and Fayyad on Sunday, Rice planned a quick trip to Amman for talks with Jordanian King Abdullah II as well as Abbas, who is currently in Jordan.
Rice then returns to Jerusalem for a three-way meeting on Monday with Livni, who is leading the Israeli negotiating team, and the Palestinian’s chief negotiator Ahmed Qureia.
Rice later will head back to Amman for further talks with Abbas.