Israel's sovereignty over the Temple Mount will not be part of attempted negotiations related to the Annapolis conference on Tuesday, according to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.  Olmert made these statements despite demands by PLO head Mahmoud Abbas to turn eastern Jerusalem into a new PA Arab capital. The prime minister spoke at a press conference following his last of three meetings with US President George W. Bush prior to returning to Israel.

Olmert also stated that he hoped to meet the US-issued deadline for fashioning a treaty creating a PLO state, but that no agreement would be implemented until local Arab terrorist infrastructures are dismantled. "The end result will be clear," Olmert stated, "that Israel is the national home of the Jewish people."