Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas are to meet Sunday, but a Hamas legislator said there is no point in talking.



Neither Israel nor the PA expects much progress in head-on talks scheduled for Sunday, but the Prime Minister’s office said it is does not want to close the lines of communication.



"Frankly speaking, there isn’t one Palestinian who believes in negotiations,” said Sheikh Ahmed Mubarak, a terrorist recently freed from Israeli prison. "Even those who believe in negotiations have no hope that Israel will meet the Palestinian conditions."



Prime Minister Olmert's spokeswoman, Miri Eisen, proved him correct Saturday night, saying that negotiations cannot take place until Hamas fulfills Quartet-set conditions to recognize Israel, renounce terror and accept existing agreements, all of which it has repeatedly vowed not to do.



Eisen called the talks a "pre-negotiation stage," adding, "We are not at a phase where we are actually talking about substance."



Abbas's top aide, chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, also sees little hope for more than words. "These are difficult times between us and I don't want to raise expectations," he said.



The Prime Minister and Abbas will talk for the first time since their summit last month, which was marked by angry shouts in the presence of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Abbas claimed at the time that he had attained from Hamas all the concessions he could ever hope to get. However, this amounted only to a statement that Hamas would "respect" - not even "fulfill" - existing agreements.

The discussions will take place in the shadow of continued Kassam rocket attacks on Israel, in continued violation of the Gaza ceasefire that the PA and Israel announced in late November. Four rocket blasts in the western Negev on Saturday caused no injuries.



Abu Mazen's Requests

Despite the violations of the ceasefire, Hamas wants Abbas to offer to extend it throughout all of Judea and Samaria in return for Israel's halting all counter-terrorist operations. Even if Hamas offers to free kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, it will be difficult for Olmert to agree to a widened ceasefire in the face of constant warnings of terrorist attacks and an escalation in shootings, stonings and firebombings on Israeli vehicles. However, rejecting a ceasefire offer may be fodder for the media to continue portray Israel in a negative light.



PA sources say Abu Mazen also plans to ask Olmert not to torpedo the PA unity government's activities - even though it was conceived in contrast with Abu Mazen's promise to Israel. The Fatah leader also intends to request that Olmert not pressure the international community to continue its economic siege on the PA - despite the fact that funds recently freed to the PA were given to Hamas.

Olmert Expresses Measure of Support for Saudi Plan

Olmert, at this morning's Cabinet meeting, made a surprising announcement of guarded support for the Saudi initiative. He said that the five-year-old plan - which calls for Israel's full withdrawal to the 1949-67 borders, the entry of an untold number of so-called Arab refugees into Israel, and full normalization with Arab countries - has some positive elements.



"The Saudi initiative is a plan that we are willing to relate to seriously," Olmert said. "It has elements that we can talk about."



Just ten days ago, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livny told the PA "Al Ayam" newspaper that Israel could not accept the initiative "in its current format."



Shalit: Before or After?

Olmert also told the Cabinet ministers today that Israel has "expressed its reservations regarding the Mecca Agreement [for a national unity government in the Palestinian Authority]." He said he will tell Abu Mazen today that the PA must honor its commitment to form a new government only after it releases kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.



Just two days ago, Hamas parliament member Halil Al-Haya told a crowd in Gaza that he feels Shalit will be released shortly after the unity government is formed.



Olmert further said he expects any PA government that is established to adhere to the Quartet's conditions." Hamas has refused to accept the demands to recognize Israel and renounce terrorism; regarding the Quartet's demand that it abide by previous PA-Israel agreements, Hamas has said it would "respect" - not "abide by" - them.

While Abbas and the Prime Minister are talking, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Amir Peretz will be in the United States for talks with their counterparts. Peretz will also speak with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who has said he intends to visit the Middle East at the end of this month.

Foreign Minister Livni will be backed by a bi-partisan effort initiated by Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of Florida and Republican Senator John Ensign of Nevada. In a letter to Secretary Rice, they stated, "We urge you to continue to hold firm and insist that [there will be] no direct aid and no contacts with any members of a Palestinian Authority that does not explicitly and unequivocally recognize Israel’s right to exist, renounce terror and accept previous agreements.”

Russia has taken the opposite stance and has been campaigning for Israel and the international community to recognize Hamas.



Unity Gov't Problems Cast Shadow

A dark cloud overshadowing the talks between Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert is the proposed unity government between the rival Fatah and Hamas factions. The PA Chairman also has threatened that if Israel does not accept the proposed Hamas-Fatah unity government, which has not yet been finalized, violence will escalate.



On Saturday, Fatah's Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades terrorists fired at a Hamas minister. No one was injured, but the incident, which occurred in eastern Samaria, is a sign of the extent of how far discontent has spread beyond Gaza.



Hamas has indicated that the new unity government will retain a strong Hamas influence, with four of its remaining ministers remaining in the government. No agreement has been reached on who will head the Interior Ministry, which oversees security forces.



A Ramallah-based pollster expects a short life for a unity government, which was agreed on in Mecca under intense pressure from Arab leaders. “The Mecca agreement has done nothing," said Jamil Rabah. "It allowed the sides to come together, but not on a common agenda. I give it two months before it falls apart. We have a scrambled egg which is very difficult to unscramble.”