Abbas & Olmert to meet.. why bother?

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will meet in two weeks, making it the third time the two leaders have met recently. A senior political source in Jerusalem said that the two will meet and focus on "furthering the dialogue" in light of the formation of a Palestinian unity government.

Aides for the two leaders met earlier this week to discuss the agenda for the meeting. "My talks with the Palestinian President will deal with issues relating to containing terrorism and the quality of life of the Palestinians," PM Olmert said yesterday during a meeting with EU commissioner for foreign affairs, Benita Ferroro-Waldner.

PM Olmert also told Ferroro-Waldner that in effort to improve the quality of life for Palestinians he had instructed the Karni commercial border crossing between Gaza and Israel to operate for longer hours and that it now can handle more than 800 trucks a day.