UN-Truth

Condoleeza Rice has arrived back in Jerusalem on Sunday and will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Quartet Special Envoy Tony Blair, according to Kol Israel Radio.

Rice, Olmert, and Blair are due to address the Saban Forum (a production of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, financed by Los Angeles-based philanthropist Haim Saban; the Saban Forum meets annually to strengthen U.S-Israeli relations) in Jerusalem on Monday evening, after which there will be a gala dinner.

Rice aides Stephen Hadley and David Welch have been conducting meetings with Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams in the days since Rice’s last visit here.

Speaking with journalists on board her plane travelling from Turkey to Israel yesterday, Rice said, according to a U.S. State Department transcript of her remarks, that “They’re still working. And like with anything of this kind, you know, they’re going through some knotty discussions. And I think those knotty discussions are going to continue for a while, but I will go out and see if there is anything that I can do to help move this along”.

Rice met Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Jerusalem on Sunday morning, Haaretz reports. Rice’s team, if not Rice herself, are due to travel to Amman during the day on Sunday to brief or to consult with King Abdallah II on the Arab peace intitiative (according to the Saban Center’s press release). The Jerusalem Post says that Rice will join Olmert for a working lunch on Sunday, and will see Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak during the day.

Rice is due to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Monday,

Filed under: Israel, Middle East Peace Process, Palestine & Palestinians, Quartet