News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has echoed statements by Vice Prime Minister Chaim Ramon and Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Salam Fayyad that a final agreement with the PA will not be completed before American President George W. Bush leaves office next January.

"No one expects a detailed agreement by January 1, 2009," he said. "From the very onset, there was no commitment on the part of Israel and the Palestinians to reach an agreement during 2008. Instead there was talk about making an effort, and this is still being done," the Prime Minister explained. He added that "there is no wish or desire to leave the completion of the negotiations to a new American president."