Olmert offers concessions

12:34 p.m.

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, seeking to build on a shaky cease-fire with the Palestinians, offered today to reduce checkpoints, release frozen funds and free prisoners in exchange for a serious push for peace by the Palestinians.

In what was billed as a major policy speech, Mr. Olmert said Israel also would pull out of the West Bank and uproot settlements under a final peace deal.

“I hold out my hand in peace to our Palestinian neighbors in the hope that it won’t be returned empty,” Mr. Olmert said.

“We cannot change the past, and we will not be able to bring back the victims on both sides of the borders,” he said. “All that we can do today is stop additional tragedies.”

His offer to restart long-stalled peace talks came a day after the two sides began observing a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, ending five months of widespread violence in the coastal area and raising hopes that the truce would lead to new peace efforts.

Despite the cease-fire, Palestinian militants fired two rockets at Israel today, causing no injuries, Israeli authorities said.

Mr. Olmert’s speech also raised the diplomatic stakes ahead of a visit to the region by President Bush.

Mr. Olmert said that if the Palestinians established a new, moderate Cabinet committed to carrying out the U.S.-backed “road map” peace plan and securing the release of a captured Israeli soldier, he would call for an immediate meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “to have a real, open, honest, serious dialogue.”

Israeli officials denied the possibility of a summit between Mr. Abbas and Mr. Olmert on the sidelines of Mr. Bush’s visit to neighboring Jordan later this week. Olmert spokeswoman Miri Eisin said the sides were discussing when the leaders would meet, but no date had been set.

Palestinian legislator Saeb Erekat, a top aide to Mr. Abbas, head of the moderate Fatah Party, said the Palestinians were ready to negotiate a final peace deal.

“I believe Mr. Olmert knows he has a partner, and that is President Abbas. He knows that to achieve peace and security for all, we need to shoot for the end game,” Mr. Erekat said.

However, the Palestinian Cabinet, led by the militant Hamas group, said it was suspicious of Mr. Olmert’s outreach.

“This is a conspiracy. This is a new maneuver. Olmert is speaking about the Palestinian state without giving details about the borders,” said Ghazi Hamad, a government spokesman.