U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with senior Israeli officials in Jerusalem yesterday and urged Israel to take steps to strengthen Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and to show the Palestinians that nonviolence produces results, so as not to miss the opportunity created by his election. "Don't undermine him," she warned.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon responded that Israel would give Abbas a chance, but everything depends on progress on security. Israel will not be satisfied with a cease-fire, he said; it insists that Abbas take action against the terrorist infrastructure and dismantle the terrorist organizations. A cease-fire could be an interim step, but it cannot be the final destination, he added.

Rice concurred that progress in the diplomatic process would depend on real Palestinian action against terror. Terror is the main long-term threat to the process, she said, and the Palestinians cannot be allowed to "switch on and switch off."

However, she said, Israel must also do its part. Among other things, she urged Israel not to take any unilateral steps in East Jerusalem, such as the decision to apply the Absentee Property Law to the city (a decision that was recently frozen by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz). Such steps could undermine Abbas, she warned.

Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom replied that Israel would not concede its sovereignty over Jerusalem, but had no intention of harming Palestinian residents of the city.

Rice also stressed the importance of sticking to the government's timetable for implementing the disengagement plan. Her Israeli interlocutors inferred from this that she opposes a referendum on the plan, which could delay its implementation.

Rice, who will meet today with senior Palestinian officials before heading to Europe, also praised the plans for tomorrow's Sharm el-Sheikh summit, which will bring together Sharon, Abbas, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah of Jordan. Sharon's adviser, Dov Weisglass, was in Egypt yesterday to discuss the summit's agenda with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, and today Weisglass will meet with Palestinian officials to complete the preparations.

Meanwhile, Egyptian officials met with Abbas and senior PA security officials in Gaza yesterday to discuss a comprehensive Palestinian security plan that would include the collection of illegal weapons.

The Egyptian delegation was headed by General Mustafa al-Buheiri, the deputy of Egyptian intelligence chief Suleiman, and included several other security experts.

According to Palestinian sources, the participants discussed the PA security services' training and equipment needs, but also dealt with a wide-ranging security plan aimed at enforcing a complete cease-fire in the weeks following tomorrow's Sharm el-Sheikh summit. One element of this plan would be the collection of illegal weapons from all armed Palestinian factions, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the various Fatah groups.

One Palestinian participant said that while Abbas intends to continue negotiating with the opposition factions over a cease-fire, "the Palestinian Authority is also preparing itself for the possibility of the cease-fire being violated, and it is determined to enforce it strictly. The weapons collection plan will go into effect in the near future."

Such a move is potentially incendiary, since the leaders of Hamas, Jihad and the various Fatah organizations have all said repeatedly in recent weeks that they are not willing to turn over their arms to the PA.