JERUSALEM — In their first meeting since pledging a year-long push for peace, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas remained at odds Thursday over an Israeli plan to build in East Jerusalem but vowed to continue their talks.
The two leaders, who made their pledge last month during a U.S.-hosted conference, were seeking to put talks back on track after a pair of acrimonious meetings between their negotiating teams.
Aides to Olmert and Abbas described Thursday’s two-hour session as “positive,” despite the lingering disagreement over Israel’s plans to build 300 new homes in a Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem it calls Har Homa.
The leaders promised to continue meeting regularly and reiterated their commitment to a negotiated agreement.
Olmert and Abbas were joined by the heads of the negotiating teams, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, and other top aides.
Olmert promised Israel would refrain from building new Jewish settlements, expanding the spread of existing ones or confiscating land for new construction, said spokesman Mark Regev.
Israel argues that Har Homa is part of Jerusalem and subject to Israeli law rather than negotiations under the peace process.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem after the 1967 Middle East war, but most of the world has not recognized that action. Olmert’s vows fall short of meeting Palestinian demands.
Abbas urged Olmert to halt all settlement activities to avoid undermining any future negotiated peace arrangement, said aide Saeb Erekat.
While more fundamental issues such as the borders of a future Palestinian state remain to be negotiated, the parties have bogged down over security and settlement expansion — an inauspicious start to President Bush’s push to resume serious peace talks after a lull of nearly seven years.
Bush arrives in two weeks for meetings with both sides.
A joint Israeli-Palestinian poll this week reflected skepticism: Only 23 percent of Palestinians and 8 percent of Israelis said they believed their leaders could reach a negotiated peace settlement by the end of next year.
