Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in his first policy statement Tuesday that he hopes to start working on a final peace deal with the Palestinians after Israel's March 28 elections, and hinted that Palestinians in Jerusalem might not always be under Israeli rule. Olmert became acting premier January 4 after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke. Sharon's condition remained unchanged Tuesday evening, said Hadassah Hospital spokesman Ron Krumer. Sharon, still in a coma, is in a critical but stable condition, Krumer said.
Olmert-watchers say he is more amenable to talks than was Sharon, who didn't consider the Palestinians to be trustworthy negotiating partners. "I hope that after [January 25 Palestinian] elections results are in, and after our election results are in, that I will able to enter into negotiations with Abu Mazen ... on a final status agreement between us and the Palestinians," Olmert told a news conference. A condition for resuming the talks, Olmert said, would be Abbas' disarming of militant Palestinian groups - the same condition Sharon had long set before embarking on his unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. |