Rice calls for the creation of a Palestinian state

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Rice: Compromises necessary
Speaking to reporters at her Jerusalem hotel after seeing Abbas, Rice declined to reveal her private discussions with Israeli and Palestinian officials but suggested that neither side would get its way in their demands for the joint statement.

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“I am not certain that a timetable that says we have to complete X by Y time is where we want to go,” she said when asked about the Palestinian demand for deadlines.

“We’re talking about ways to demonstrate continued momentum if and when they begin formal negotiations but we haven’t come to any conclusions at this point,” Rice said.

She also said the joint statement “does not have to be detailed in order to be serious (or) substantive.”

At the same time, she said that despite Israeli reservations, the document would have to include references to the final status issues.

“If it’s going to address the establishment of a Palestinian state, then it has to address core issues,” Rice said. “You do have to have enough that is concrete so that people know that we’re not just starting out with the general principle that everyone would like to have a Palestinian state.”

She also defended the plan for the conference, which some critics believe Bush called prematurely when he announced in July that it would be held in the fall — a year before the next presidential elections.

“I understand as well as anybody that there are risks to announcing a meeting and then doing the hard work to get it prepared,” Rice said. But the other side of that ... something had to spark their active and intensive engagement, something had to spark the region to take advantage of what was a slowly opening historic opportunity.”

Rice: 'A long way to go'
Palestinian officials had expressed disappointment with Rice’s less-than-optimistic comments on Sunday and in her meeting with Abbas she sought to reassure the Palestinians of the U.S. commitment to peace.

“We have come a long way,” she said. “We have got quite a long way to go, but we are not going to tire until I have given it my last ounce of energy and my last moment in office.”

Also Monday, the Israeli and Palestinian teams charged with drafting the pre-conference document were to meet in Jerusalem, Qureia’s office said. The teams had met only once before.

At the same time, Olmert hinted Monday that he is ready to share control of Jerusalem, saying for the first time that Israel could do without controlling some of the holy city’s outlying Arab neighborhoods.