Cabinet expected to approve East Jerusalem PA vote Sunday

The cabinet is expected on Sunday to approve a proposal by Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to allow residents of East Jerusalem to vote in the elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council (the parliament). According to the proposal, members of terror organizations will not be able to run as candidates in the election. Votes will be cast at post offices in East Jerusalem, as was the arrangement in the 1996 and 2005 elections. Olmert met Friday with U.S. envoys Elliott Abrams and David Walsh to discuss the Palestinian elections, scheduled for January 25, and the possible implications of Hamas’ participation. Olmert told the Americans that Hamas had to fulfill its obligations to fight terror according to the road map. Olmert also spoke by phone with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, who expressed concern for the health of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. MK Shimon Peres, number two on the Kadima list, will leave on Sunday night for a week-long trip to the U.S., where he will meet in Washington with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, and the president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz. Peres will be accompanied by former Foreign Ministry director Avi Gil. Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom is to leave the ministry on Sunday. A ceremony marking the entry of Tzipi Livni to the post is scheduled for Tuesday.