Israel And Palestine To Establish Biweekly Peace Talks

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has agreed to meet every two weeks for a peace talk with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to focus on the day-to-day movement and access of Palestinians in and out of Gaza, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced Tuesday.Rice said the United States would work with the Israelis and Palestinians to establish benchmarks to measure progress in the biweekly talks.

“I’m delighted that they’re going to talk and talk often,” Rice said, according to the New York Times. “We are not yet at final-status negotiations. Palestinians must know that their state will be viable. Israelis must know that a future state of Palestine will be a source of security, not a threat to it.”