Jordanian King Abdullah II pre-empted talks set for Monday at the four-way summit between Israel, the PA, Egypt and Jordan with a phone call to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert a day earlier.
The Hashemite monarch made the call Sunday while meeting with visiting Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, ostensibly to lay out the groundwork for Monday’s meeting.
The conversation appeared to be the opening gambit in talks that were not scheduled to take place until Monday, when Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak would also be present.
Abdullah urged Israel to begin negotiations on the final status for a new Arab state in Judea and Samaria, adding his voice to the pressure on Israel that has been exerted by the PA chairman for months.
Israel has rejected the idea, saying the move would be too fast and too drastic. Israel insists that Abbas first manage control over his own population, halt terrorism and incitement, and work to prevent terrorist attacks against Israel.
The Jordanian king also addressed the status of the Palestinian Authority itself, and was adamant that Gaza should be included with Judea and Samaria in being considered as one PA entity, according to the Jordanian News Agency. At present, Gaza is being ruled by the Hamas terrorist organization which staged a bloody coup two weeks ago. Abbas’s Fatah terrorist group managed to retain control of the PA-administered areas of Judea and Samaria, however, leaving a functional split between Gaza and the rest of the PA.
Abdullah also charged that Israel's steps to ease travel restrictions for PA Arabs are "inadequate." Prime Minister Olmert had reportedly already assured U.S. President George W. Bush that he would agree to remove security checkpoints and roadblocks in Judea and Samaria in a confidence-building measure designed to help prop up the Abbas emergency government. However, the IDF and defense establishment has opposed the move. They say that opening these routes will endager the lives of Israeli citizens.
Olmert is also expected to formalize a decision made by Israel to transfer more than half a billion dollars in tax revenues collected on behalf of the PA but withheld after the election of Hamas to the ruling faction in the government.
The Hashemite monarch also pressed on with an oft-repeated Arab League position that Israel agree, in its entirety, to the 2002 Saudi-authored proposed for settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The four-way summit Monday is being hosted by Egypt’s President Mubarak. Prime Minister Olmert told the Associated Press news agency before leaving for the summit that it was unlikely that any major breakthroughs would be forthcoming at the meeting.
“Don’t wait impatiently tonight for the outcome, as if at the end of the day you are going to see us sitting and signing a peace treaty,” he said. “It will take time.”
The prime minister added that he is ready to consider the Arab League proposal but warned it was little more than a springboard for further discussion. It’s not going to be simple and not going to be easy,” he stressed. “It’s going to be a long and painful road.
The Hashemite monarch made the call Sunday while meeting with visiting Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, ostensibly to lay out the groundwork for Monday’s meeting.
The conversation appeared to be the opening gambit in talks that were not scheduled to take place until Monday, when Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak would also be present.
Abdullah urged Israel to begin negotiations on the final status for a new Arab state in Judea and Samaria, adding his voice to the pressure on Israel that has been exerted by the PA chairman for months.
Israel has rejected the idea, saying the move would be too fast and too drastic. Israel insists that Abbas first manage control over his own population, halt terrorism and incitement, and work to prevent terrorist attacks against Israel.
The Jordanian king also addressed the status of the Palestinian Authority itself, and was adamant that Gaza should be included with Judea and Samaria in being considered as one PA entity, according to the Jordanian News Agency. At present, Gaza is being ruled by the Hamas terrorist organization which staged a bloody coup two weeks ago. Abbas’s Fatah terrorist group managed to retain control of the PA-administered areas of Judea and Samaria, however, leaving a functional split between Gaza and the rest of the PA.
Abdullah also charged that Israel's steps to ease travel restrictions for PA Arabs are "inadequate." Prime Minister Olmert had reportedly already assured U.S. President George W. Bush that he would agree to remove security checkpoints and roadblocks in Judea and Samaria in a confidence-building measure designed to help prop up the Abbas emergency government. However, the IDF and defense establishment has opposed the move. They say that opening these routes will endager the lives of Israeli citizens.
Olmert is also expected to formalize a decision made by Israel to transfer more than half a billion dollars in tax revenues collected on behalf of the PA but withheld after the election of Hamas to the ruling faction in the government.
The Hashemite monarch also pressed on with an oft-repeated Arab League position that Israel agree, in its entirety, to the 2002 Saudi-authored proposed for settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The four-way summit Monday is being hosted by Egypt’s President Mubarak. Prime Minister Olmert told the Associated Press news agency before leaving for the summit that it was unlikely that any major breakthroughs would be forthcoming at the meeting.
“Don’t wait impatiently tonight for the outcome, as if at the end of the day you are going to see us sitting and signing a peace treaty,” he said. “It will take time.”
The prime minister added that he is ready to consider the Arab League proposal but warned it was little more than a springboard for further discussion. It’s not going to be simple and not going to be easy,” he stressed. “It’s going to be a long and painful road.