Palestinian Uncertainty Clouds Rice Trip

In this photo made available by the U.S. Embassy to Israel, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, second from right, meets with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem Sunday Feb. 18, 2007. The U.S. and Israel agreed ahead of a three-way meeting with the Palestinians not to work with any new Palestinian government that does not renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept existing peace agreements, Olmert said Sunday. (AP Photo/U.S. Embassy/Matty Stern/ho) (Matty Stern - AP)

Neither the U.S. nor Israel has said it would boycott Abbas, who is widely known by his nickname, Abu Mazen. As head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, he would represent the Palestinians in any peace talks. Negotiations broke down more than six years ago in an explosion of violence between the two sides.

"I think that we can continue to work with Abu Mazen, continue to discuss with Abu Mazen, continue to explore with Abu Mazen," Rice said.

Rice was the latest U.S. official to lower expectations for Monday's meeting even as she described a deep commitment to the larger goal of peace.

"Nobody is at the point of talking about a deal," Rice said. "We're talking about ... what the destination might look like."

Many of the core questions that frame the hoped-for destination _ an independent Palestine alongside Israel _ apparently would not be on the table Monday. Those include the borders and the fate of disputed areas of Jerusalem.

Israeli leaders were lukewarm about the session even before Abbas' deal; some have been openly skeptical since.

The United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia have said jointly that a Palestinian government must renounce violence, abide by past agreements with Israel and others and accept Israel's right to exist.

The four-member group, known as the Quartet, is the steward of a mothballed 2003 peace plan. The group has taken no position yet on whether Abbas' pact with Hamas meets that test, but Rice said Palestinian statehood rests on it.

"I don't think that there's any doubt that ... an agreement to have a Palestinian state and then the actual standing of a Palestinian state is going to have to be on the basis of a government that accepts the right of Israel to exist," Rice said. "I can't imagine it any other way."

Abbas has had a simple message for U.S. diplomats unhappy with his planned coalition: Take it or leave it. On Sunday, he told Rice the deal with Hamas was the best he could get and asked her to give it a chance, his aides said.

Abbas had tried during months of coalition talks to press Hamas to agree to abide by existing peace accords _ something that would imply recognition of Israel. He yielded after many rounds of deadly Palestinian infighting.

More than 130 Palestinians have died in street clashes and other attacks that have alarmed both Palestinians and Israelis, sapped political momentum and threatened to erode Abbas' authority.

"The Americans told us that this agreement is not meeting (international) conditions," for diplomatic recognition and vital aid, said an Abbas aide, Yasser Abed Rabbo. "But we have an understanding with Rice that they will wait until we see this government declare its program."

Olmert said at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday that he and President Bush had spoken by phone on Friday about the deal and agreed the Palestinians had to go further.

"A Palestinian government that won't accept the Quartet conditions won't receive recognition and cooperation," Olmert said. "The American and Israeli positions are totally identical on this issue."