[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: Actually, both remarks are consistent. Wat he
actually said at the meal was that Abbas was weak and thus could no honor
what he signs. But when did Mr. Peres and the rest of the Oslo crowd ever
think that Palestinian compliance actually mattered more than the
opportunity to dress up and have yet another beautiful signing ceremony?]

President Receives Phone Call from Israeli President
Date : 6/7/2008 Time : 22:37
http://english.wafa.ps/?action=detail&id=11902

AMMAN, July 06, 2008, (WAFA PLO news agency)-President Mahmoud Abbas
received on Sunday a telephone call from Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Israeli President denied what some of the media reported on his tongue,
especially with regard to President Abbas.

Peres also expressed his regret in this regard, confirmed that he was
committed to the peace process and he has not changed his position on this
matter.

====
Peres: No chance of peace with Palestinians
By Yossi Verter Haaretz Last update - 08:09 04/07/2008
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/998836.html

President Shimon Peres believes there is no chance of an agreement between
Israel and the Palestinians.

Peres, the one-time proponent of a "new Middle East" made this statement
last Saturday at a dinner with the Jordanian and French ambassadors in
Defense Minister Ehud Barak's Tel Aviv apartment.

At the end of the meal an argument erupted between the Jordanian envoy, Ali
Ayed, and a well-known "dovish" attorney, who said Israel had no chance of
reaching an agreement with the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas'
leadership. Barak supported his guest's hawkish stance.

At a certain point, Peres intervened, surprising the participants by joining
the attorney's prediction. "It would be very hard to reach an agreement,"
Peres said, due to the Hamas-Fatah split.

He said Abbas had no support among his people, no power to carry out
security agreements and that any agreement Israel and the PA made crumbled a
day later due to the PA's weakness. Therefore there is no chance of
agreement, he summed.