As it becomes increasingly apparent that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert may be facing criminal charges that may compel him to step down from office, he appears even more anxious to create facts on the ground with the PA.

The prime minister met on Monday in his Jerusalem residence with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), where the two discussed final border issues. This while southern Israeli residents continued evading mortar shells and Kassam rockets, their daily reality as the government talks of peace and “living alongside a Palestinian state”.

Mark Regev, a spokesman for the prime minister stated the talks were the “most serious” to date, signaling significant progress on mapping out permanent borders between Israel and the PA, in step with demands made by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who just left Israel following a two-day high-level shuttle diplomacy mission.

Regev added however that there was no progress on the issue of Jerusalem’s future and ongoing PA demands for the right of return for so-called Palestinian refugees.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)