Israeli PM Will Meet With Palestinians

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday he will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to urge the resumption of negotiations on an internationally backed peace plan.

At a news conference with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Olmert said he would insist that the Palestinians carry out their commitments under the U.S.-supported plan, known as the "road map." Those include dismantling violent groups.

Abbas, a moderate, has tried to control militants through negotiations, but the Hamas militant group's victory in parliamentary elections and its subsequent formation of a government have undermined his efforts.

Olmert did not give a date for his meeting with Abbas, which would be the first summit meeting between Israeli and Palestinian leaders since February 2005.

"I really hope that our Palestinian partners will take advantage of this opportunity and will implement all their commitments so that it will be possible to proceed according to the 'road map,"' Olmert said.

The Israeli leader said his first priority is to resume peace talks, leaving his plan to unilaterally draw Israel's border with the West Bank as a second option.

Also Sunday, Hamas rejected an ultimatum by Abbas to accept a plan indirectly recognizing Israel. Abbas gave Hamas until Tuesday to accept the idea of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, or he would call a referendum on the matter. Abbas believes his plan could end international sanctions, but Hamas described the referendum as illegal, CBS News correspondent Robert Berger reports.

"The local basic law and the advice which we got from experts in international law say that referendums are not permitted on the Palestinian land," Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh told reporters. However, he said he would try to continue a dialogue with Abbas over the plan.

Abbas presented the ultimatum late last month as a way out of an increasingly bloody power struggle with Hamas. Hamas is deeply divided on the issue, and Haniyeh's statement appeared to be an attempt to buy time. Hamas is wary of being blamed for failure of the plan.

With the deadline looming, Hamas and Fatah representatives met in the West Bank Sunday to discuss the proposal. But they said they had made no progress and that hopes for agreement were fading.

Hamas, which defeated Fatah in January legislative elections, has demanded the dialogue be moved to its Gaza Strip stronghold, where most Hamas leaders live.

"We are ready to bring the dialogue to Gaza," Haniyeh said. "We are ready to contribute by all means to make this dialogue succeed."

Hamas was founded two decades ago with the goal of destroying Israel and establishing an Islamic state in its place. Israel, the U.S. and the European Union have branded Hamas, which has killed scores of Israelis in suicide bombings, a terrorist group.

Since taking office in March, Hamas has come under heavy international pressure to renounce violence and recognize Israel. It refuses, despite cuts in international funding that have left the government unable to pay some 165,000 civil servants for three months.

Haniyeh said the government plans to pay one month's salary on Monday to thousands of low-income employees.

Palestinian banks have agreed to give interest-free loans to 40,000 government workers, effectively providing salaries that have not been paid for three months because of international sanctions placed on Hamas. Militant groups made the banks an offer they could not refuse: pay the salaries or pay the consequences, reports Berger.

On Sunday evening, Palestinian workers begin drawing partial salaries from cash machines in the Gaza Strip after the Bank of Palestine announced it was opening its ATM network.

The Palestinian government said it would deposit 1,500 shekels, the equivalent of about $331.56, in the accounts of the 40,000 lowest-paid workers. The finance minister said the other 125,000 would have to wait.