By Aluf Benn (Jerusalem) and Shmuel Rosner (Washington)
Something is moving in the diplomatic process. Fact: Close associates of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas have told friends on the Israeli left that this time they emerged satisfied from their meeting, on Sunday of this week, with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Fact: On the day after the meeting, intra-Palestinian agreement was achieved for the suspension of the shooting of Qassam rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel, and by Wednesday only four mortar shell hits were registered. Fact: Olmert has for the first time agreed to discuss 'the diplomatic horizon' with Abbas and to start talks on the security and economic arrangements that will prevail between Israel and the future Palestinian state. Fact: The Arab League has appointed, for the first time in its history, a delegation to advance its peace initiative with Israel. Fact: The Karni crossing point for goods, the main artery of Gaza's economic life, reopened this week in an expanded format. Fact: The U.S. army general Keith Dayton has received a budget for the training and equipping of Abbas' presidential guard and for the bureau of his national security advisor Mohammed Dahlan.
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