Israelis and Palestinians tackle issues

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli and Palestinian leaders tackled the core issues Tuesday that have tormented Mideast peacemakers for decades — Palestinian refugees, final borders and the fate of Jerusalem.

It was the first time Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the issues in depth and represented an important building block for a U.S.-sponsored international peace conference planned for November.

Olmert met several times with Abbas in the past few months but had been reluctant to take on the most contentious issues, preferring to focus on general outlines. That approach riled Palestinians, who want to take on the core questions of Palestinian statehood.

Heading into the meeting at Olmert’s Jerusalem residence, Abbas warned that the fall peace conference would be a “waste of time” if the three big issues were glossed over. After the talks, both sides confirmed that Israel had swept aside its reluctance to address them.

“These core issues have to be discussed on the way to finding a diplomatic solution of two states for two peoples,” an official in Olmert’s office quoted the Israeli leader as saying.