DATE SET TO VOTE FOR RECOGNITION

Israel should not wait too long to implement plan: PM 1 hour, 21 minutes ago LONDON

(Reuters) - Israel should not wait too long to implement a plan to set its borders unilaterally if negotiations with the Palestinians make no progress, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday. Olmert, in an interview with Sky News, said he was ready to make "painful and divisive" concessions in the quest for peace with the Palestinians.But if the Palestinians would not meet requirements set out in an internationally-backed "road map" to peace, "then I will try to move with the collaboration and advice of many other countries, not alone, toward changing the status quo in the Middle East," he said.

Olmert is due to holds talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London on Monday as he seeks European support for his proposals to define Israel's borders unilaterally if peace talks with the Palestinians are not revived. The plan calls for the removal of remote Jewish settlements in the West Bank while keeping larger enclaves.If conditions did not permit negotiations, Olmert said he wanted to do something to move things forward."I don't think that we should wait too much," he said."I think that we should wait as long as is needed to give the power to Abu Mazen (moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) to impose his philosophy...," he said. He would not give a date for putting his plan into action.Abbas is locked in a power struggle with Islamic militant group Hamas which swept to power in Palestinian elections in January.

Hamas is formally committed to destroying Israel.On Friday, Hamas called off a 16-month-old truce with Israel after attacks blamed on Israeli forces killed 10 Palestinians, including three children playing on a beach.

PLAN TO MEET ABBAS

Palestinians say Olmert's plan would deny them a viable state. President Bush gave the plan a boost last month but stressed Israel should first pursue peace talks.Olmert said he planned to meet Abbas later this month.But for negotiations to happen, Palestinians must dismantle militant groups and recognize Israel's right to exist, he said.Asked if there would be no meaningful negotiations as long as Hamas was in government or did not change ideology, Olmert said: "I say that when someone wants to kill me I normally fight him and that's what every healthy and normal nation would do. And when Hamas declares war against Israel I'm not going to sit idle and let him kill me, I'm going to fight back, sure.Olmert said Hamas had not been sticking to the ceasefire, that was in force until Friday.

He also said he hoped Iran would be "smart and responsible enough" to accept proposals by six world powers to suspend its nuclear enrichment program. Iran has been referred to the U.N. Security Council after failing to convince the international community that its atomic scientists are looking to build power stations, not weapons.

Abbas sets date for referendum on Israel By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH, Associated Press

Writers 38 minutes ago RAMALLAH, West Bank - Moderate President Mahmoud Abbas, defying the Hamas militants who run the government, said Saturday that Palestinians would vote next month on whether to establish a state alongside Israel, effectively recognizing the Jewish nation. Hamas immediately rejected the notion of the July 26 referendum, which is expected to win a clear majority despite rising anger at Israel and increased infighting between the militants and Abbas' Fatah movement.Hamas fighters battled Abbas loyalists in Gaza and fired rockets and mortars at Israel, ending a 16-month truce after an explosion blamed on Israeli shelling Friday killed eight people and wounded dozens at a seaside family picnic.

"We have to rule out the idea of a referendum," Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said.Abbas said the vote could be called off if the sides reach agreement on the document, which was written by prominent Palestinian militants jailed by Israel and calls for a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.Establishing the state in those lands, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War, would be an implicit recognition of Israel.Abbas denounced the deaths of the Gaza beachgoers but brushed off Hamas' call to put off the vote due to the renewed violence. He said accepting the referendum would help the Palestinians achieve their
dream of statehood and end a debilitating international aid boycott imposed after Hamas' rise to power.

"When we reach an agreement over the prisoners' document, the siege will end," Abbas said.Later, Abbas and Haniyeh met in Gaza along with Hamas Interior Minister Said Siyam. Abbas' spokesman said the president made clear to Haniyeh that the referendum would be held as planned, despite the prime minister's opposition.Haniyeh, repeating Hamas' rejection of the vote, said that he had agreed to meet with Abbas again on Sunday, and that dialogue would continue.Palestinians will be asked to vote "yes" or "no" on the document, which polls show enjoys wide support among Palestinians, partly because of the clout of its authors.Accepting it
could give Hamas, which is officially sworn to Israel's destruction, an avenue for moderating its ways.

So far the group has not budged from its refusal to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept past peace accords. Israel and the international community require those steps before they will deal with the group.Hamas claimed responsibility Saturday for firing at least 15 rockets and a barrage of mortar shells at Israel — essentially ending its 16-month truce.The army said more than two dozen homemade rockets and mortar shells were fired at Israel on Saturday. No casualties were reported.Israel's army chief expressed regret for Friday's civilian deaths, but stopped short of accepting responsibility for the incident. Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz said an investigation was still underway, and it was still not clear what caused the deaths.

The investigation had so far ruled out gunboats and an airstrike, but it is still possible Israeli artillery or even a misfired Palestinian rocket caused the deaths, Halutz said.Abbas condemned the killings as a "genocidal crime." Haniyeh called the shelling a "war crime" and called for an end to Hamas-Fatah fighting. Tensions between Abbas and Hamas have been increasing since the Islamic militant group, which won a January parliamentary election, took power in March. Abbas, elected separately last year, still wields considerable authority and Fatah and Hamas are battling over control of the security forces. Factional fighting in Gaza's streets has raised the specter of civil war. The unsuccessful negotiations between Abbas and Hamas over the prisoners' document also have exposed divisions between Hamas' local officials and its Syria-based leadership, which has held sway.

Meanwhile, new violence erupted between gunmen loyal to the president and Hamas' militia before Abbas' announcement. Gunmen shot and killed a 39-year-old Palestinian security officer in a botched kidnapping attempt, Palestinian Preventive Security officials said. The force, loyal to Abbas, accused Hamas of the killing and vowed to impose justice. During the funeral procession, a gunbattle erupted between gunmen from Hamas and the Preventive Security force. The car of Gaza's top pro-Abbas general was caught in the crossfire, and he was rushed out of the area. Four people were wounded, including one seriously, hospital officials said. Hamas gunmen took up positions in the area, leading to a tense standoff.