(Irish Independent) Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said yesterday that a US-sponsored conference on Palestinian statehood would not yield a peace breakthrough, seeking to head off a revolt by rightist coalition partners.
Two members of Mr Olmert's coalition have threatened to quit the government if the conference, expected to be held in late November or early December, tackles the most sensitive issues, including control of Jerusalem and its holy sites.
Israeli allegations about a suspected four-month-old Palestinian plot against Mr Olmert's life cast a further shadow over preparations for the conference, as the prime minister began a four-day trip to France and Britain.
Mr Olmert said the suspected plot would not derail further talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The prime minister told reporters that the conference on a Palestinian state was "not ... an event for an agreement or an historic breakthrough."