David Baker said he was unaware of the reasons for the delay of the meeting in the West Bank Palestinian town of Jericho, which was to have focused on ceasefire proposals amid the latest wave of violence between Israel and Palestinian militants.
Abbas earlier pledged to present a draft ceasefire agreement, coordinated with the main Palestinian militant groups, at the meeting with Olmert, the first between the leaders to be held in the West Bank.
According to media reports, the peace incentive by the leader of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), who is seeking a truce for both Gaza and the occupied West Bank, was not supported by Palestinian militants.
Abbas aide Saeb Erekat attributed the meeting failure to differences over tax revenues, which Israel has withheld from the PNA after the radical Islamist group Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States, won parliamentary elections in January 2006.
Israel authorities are ready to transfer about half of an estimated $700 million to the PNA, claiming the remainder has been frozen by court order.
The Israeli-Palestinian November 26 ceasefire was broken in mid-May, when Palestinian militants launched rocket attacks on southern Israel, killing two people. More than 50 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli retaliatory air attacks on Gaza.
Rocket attacks against Israel came amid reduced turf fighting between Hamas and moderate pro-presidential Fatah groups on Palestinian lands. The Islamic factions declared a ceasefire May 19 after a week of violence in which 50 Palestinians died.
The Hamas-led government was replaced in March by a national unity government, established with Fatah, to stop the bloodshed.
