Prime Minister Ehud Olmert tried to convince cabinet ministers Sunday morning that his joint statement with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Annapolis last Tuesday does not mean Israel would have to meet a specific deadline for a final agreement.

Olmert told the cabinet that the statement, which calls for final status talks to be completed by the end of 2008, was not a binding commitment to a certain timetable.  He claimed that the government would be able to review the statement, adding that the negotiations would be conducted according to the American Road Map plan, which he said would protect Israel's security interests.

A number of ministers were vocal in their efforts to point out that Olmert's assurances were in direct contradiction to the joint declaration he signed last week with Abbas and U.S. President George W. Bush.

Minister of Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman doubted Abbas's ability to follow through on his commitments, saying, "Abu Mazen [Abbas's nom de guerre - ed.] represents the Palestinians like I represent the Norwegians. The chances that Abbas can retake control of Gaza are very slim," he said.

Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, a member of Olmert's Kadima party, pointed out that the Prime Minister had agreed to reach a final agreement with Abbas by 2008, leaving them with less time for serious negotiations than had been set aside for the first stage of the Roadmap. 

Even if negotiations begin soon, Dichter said, Israel cannot discuss core issues such as the status of Jerusalem or the PA's demand for Israel to accept millions of Arab refugees as citizens until the PA fulfills its Roadmap obligations, particularly the obligation to fight terrorism.

This, however, appears to stand in opposition to Olmert's agreement to begin final-status negotiations as early as this month.

The joint declaration, read at the conference by U.S. President Bush, included a statement saying, "In furtherance of the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, we agree to immediately launch good-faith bilateral in order to conclude a peace treaty resolving all outstanding issues, including all core issues without exception, as specified in previous agreements. We agree to engage in vigorous, ongoing and continuous negotiations and shall make every effort to conclude an agreement before the end of 2008." 

The declaration throws into overdrive the 2003 Roadmap process that withered and died within days of the American attempt to create order out of terrorism and chaos.

The 'Real' Roadmap Plan, Uncut Version

The text released by the U.S. State Department on April 30, 2003, required Phase I - entitled Ending Terror And Violence, Normalizing Palestinian Life, and Building Palestinian Institutions - to be fulfilled within the first month. The agreement states: "In Phase I, the Palestinians immediately undertake an unconditional cessation of violence according to the steps outlined below; such action should be accompanied by supportive measures undertaken by Israel…. "

By the end of that initial process, according to the document, "Palestinian leadership issues an unequivocal statement reiterating Israel’s right to exist in peace and security and calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to end armed activity and all acts of violence against Israelis anywhere. All official Palestinian institutions end incitement against Israel."

Discussions on provisional borders for a PA state, in Phase II, were not to begin until Phase I had been successfully implemented. Phase III, which includes final status talks rested upon successful completion of the tasks in Phase II.

 Included in the document was a section in Phase I outlining an agreement that "Arab states cut off public and private funding and all other forms of support for groups supporting and engaging in violence and terror," among other requirements.