Interim PM Olmert to meet with Bush in Washington next month

[Englander]

By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent

Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet in Washington with U.S. President George Bush on May 23. The two will focus on Olmert's convergence plan, the Hamas-led government in the Palestinian Authority, and the Iranian nuclear threat.

Olmert's first trip abroad as prime minister will be devoted entirely to meetings with U.S. administration and Congressional leaders in Washington, and he will not travel to other destinations.

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Meanwhile, officials in Washington have yet to decide whether they will demand that Olmert meet with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to try to conduct a dialogue with him prior to resorting to a unilateral move. Thus far, Olmert has refused to meet with Abbas, and has rejected an offer by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to host an Israeli-Palestinian summit.

Political sources in Jerusalem said that while the U.S. administration has publicly declared Abbas the Palestinians' recognized leader, it is not maintaining contact with him in practice, nor does it expect Israel to conduct political talks with him.

"Peace cannot be achieved only through giving back territory; and without giving back territory, there can be no peace," Olmert told participants of the international Bible quiz yesterday. "As I see it, all the land from the Jordan River to the sea is an integral part of our country ... But sometimes, reality is complex ... Therefore, a decision has to be made whether to lose Israel's identity as a Jewish state, or to forgo a part of the territory so that Israel can remain a Jewish state."

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