Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas held a meeting in Jerusalem on Tuesday afternoon. Spokesmen said that "fundamental issues" were addressed by the two sides. It was the latest in a series of relatively regular 
Abbas signed the guest book at the Prime Minister's official residence.
meetings between Abbas and Olmert, established at the insistence of the United States in March. Three weeks ago, the two men met in the PA-controlled town of Jericho.
For the first time since their series of meetings began, Abbas signed the guest book at the Prime Minister's official residence, where the meeting took place.
"It is my honor to meet the Prime Minister in his home. I hope and wish for the peace between us to move forward and for both peoples, Israelis and Palestinians, to see the peace we are striving for," wrote Abbas.
Prime Minister Olmert publicly thanked Abbas at the beginning of the meeting for the rescue by PA security forces of Israelis who recently accidentally entered PA-controlled areas. In several recent instances, lost Israelis had been surrounded by bloodthirsty mobs intent on lynching them, but PA militia forces escorted them to safety and Israeli custody.
In his preliminary comments, Olmert remarked positively upon Abbas's decision to freeze the funds of 103 charitable organizations that were linked to the Islamist Hamas terrorist group. Hamas wrenched control of Gaza from Abbas's Fatah organization earlier this year, forcibly expanding and entrenching its January electoral victory in the PA.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Olmert reportedly rejected a request by Abbas that Israel extend the jurisdiction of his militia forces to additional areas in Judea and Samaria. Some final-status issues that may have been on the agenda in the meeting between Olmert and Abbas, although not officially confirmed, were the status of Jerusalem, permanent borders and the immigration of millions of descendants of those who fled Israel during Israel's War of Independence in 1948.
It was not clear if the two sides had reached what the Prime Minister had said would be an "agreement on principles" ahead of an international Middle East summit called for by the United States. The summit, which will be attended by Israel, the US and several Arab states, is set to take place in November.
After the meeting on Tuesday, a government spokesman said only that "fundamental
Olmert reportedly rejected a request by Abbas that Israel extend the jurisdiction of his militia.issues" had been discussed by Prime Minister Olmert and the PA leader.
On Monday, PA Chairman Abbas made what appeared to be a soft ultimatum for the November summit and a swipe at Prime Minister Olmert's "agreement on principles" formulation.
Abbas told Voice of Palestine Radio, "If there is a clear framework including final status issues, we will welcome this and go to the [November] conference." He added, however, that the summit would be a "waste of time" if it focused its discussions solely on a "declaration of principles."
Another Olmert-Abbas meeting is expected to take place prior to the Rosh Hashanah holiday, in early September.
Likud MKs React to Abbas-Olmert Meeting
Likud Knesset Member Yuval Steinitz slammed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's apparent drive toward a final status agreement with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Following the Prime Minister's meeting Abbas on Tuesday afternoon, Steinitz accused Olmert of granting concessions to the PA in his regular talks with Abbas as a way to "save his political skin." The Prime Minister was "sacrificing the security interests most vital for the continued existence of the state," Steinitz charged.
Olmert is willing to "divide Jerusalem and bring Israel back to the Auschwitz borders," according to MK Steinitz, due to the Prime Minister's "zero public support and [with] the Winograd Commission's results on the way."
Earlier, Likud faction head MK Gideon Saar called on the Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas parties, members of the ruling coalition, to bring about the fall of the Olmert government. Political leaders in Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu have expressed opposition to further concessions to the PA.
"Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas must stop behaving like ostriches and bring about the fall of the Olmert government before the completion of the process of signing a declaration of principles and [before] the international conference in November," Saar said. Failing to stop Olmert from signing another deal with the PA "will minimize the maneuverability of every future Israeli government," Saar claimed.
The Likud legislator added that it is dangerous to negotiate with Abbas when the Fatah chief cannot even provide the minimum required of him under previous agreements, and while rockets continue to fall on Israeli towns. He accused Olmert of refusing to learn the lessons of the disastrous results of previous withdrawals.
A special Knesset session has been called for next Tuesday to discuss the government's current policies regarding negotiations with the PA. The session will convene at the request of 25 MKs who insist that Prime Minister Olmert has no mandate to engage in final-status talks at this time.