United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday and reassured him that the US would not pressure him to make concessions that could destroy his coalition. According to Haaretz, Rice told Olmert that Israel would not be pressured to do “anything not accepted by her [Israel].” Olmert told Rice that he would attempt to reach a mutual statement with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas before the November conference in Annapolis.
Rice will meet with Abbas and other PA officials in Ramallah on Monday. PA officials are reportedly worried that Rice will ask them not to push for a timetable for Israeli concessions, out of fear that pushing for too many concessions could cause the breakup of Olmert’s coalition.