by KYW’s Mideast Bureau chief Jay Bushinsky

There may be a new threat to peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians.

Negotiations on the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel have run into a new roadblock: the possibility that Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert may resign due to the police interrogation of his financial dealings, a move that could send Israel's citizens to the polls later this year.

The Palestinian Authority's chief negotiator reportedly told an Egyptian newspaper in Cairo that an Israeli election campaign probably would make it impossible to conclude an agreement in accordance with President Bush's timetable -- in other words, before he leaves office.