25 - 31 January 2001
Issue No.518
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 25 - 31 January 2001 Issue No.518 |
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Running out of steam
Even before the suspension of the "marathon" Palestinian-Israeli talks on Tuesday night, following the killing of two Israelis in the West Bank, key negotiators on both sides sought to dampen expectations that an agreement could be reached before Israel's prime ministerial elections on 6 February.
Hard-line statements by Prime Minister Ehud Barak, only hours before the killings, affirming his so-called "red lines" on keeping sovereignty over East Jerusalem and rejecting the return of Palestinian refugees added to the pessimism of Palestinian negotiators.
"If Barak insists on his position, this means the talks can never succeed," said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.
According to Palestinian negotiators no progress was achieved on overcoming the two principal stumbling blocks -- Jerusalem and the right of return -- since the talks started on Sunday night at the Egyptian resort of Taba. However, the two sides agreed on describing the talks as "serious" and "intensive."
Gelad Sher, a key Israeli negotiator close to Barak, said he was optimistic, "though not necessarily on the achievement of this objective [agreement]" before 6 February.
One Palestinian negotiator who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity said the Israelis this time presented "better" maps of their withdrawal plans from the West Bank. "They are now offering to withdraw from 94 per cent of the West Bank, but we are still negotiating the areas that will remain under their control," he said.
The Palestinian source added that the two sides also discussed the territories which Israel would hand over to the Palestinians in exchange for the six per cent of the West Bank it wants to keep under its control.
"We don't think they should keep six per cent in the first place, and we believe that the area of the settlements Israel annexes should go down to one per cent," the source said. "In return, they offered us areas around Gaza and the West Bank that would be part of the Palestinian state."
In last July's Camp David negotiations, sponsored by former US President Bill Clinton, Israel wanted to annex up to 10 per cent of the West Bank, practically dividing the area into two blocks separated by Israeli settlements.
Before the suspension of the Taba talks, Palestinian and Israeli negotiators said on Tuesday morning that they had divided themselves into four committees dealing with Jerusalem, refugees, security and borders. However, the Jerusalem committee had not convened when the negotiations were suspended on Tuesday night, a Palestinian negotiator said.
Erekat also strongly rejected a proposal by Barak that Israel keep sovereignty over East Jerusalem and the Israelis and Palestinians "share the administration" of the Holy City. "East Jerusalem was occupied in 1967 along with Sinai and the West Bank. Thus, we won't accept anything less than full Israeli withdrawal from East Jerusalem," he said.
Palestinian Authority Planning Minister Nabil Shaath told the Weekly the two sides were working on a "detailed framework for a final agreement." While this is more than the Declaration of Principles earlier offered by Barak, it remains less than a final status deal, meaning the two sides will have to hold more talks after the Israeli elections, in the unlikely case of Barak winning, to decide the steps necessary to implement the principles on which they had agreed.
As for the right of return of an estimated 4 million Palestinians scattered worldwide, Israeli negotiators reportedly offered to increase the number of refugees they are ready to allow into Israel from 100,000 to 150,000 over 20 years. They also reportedly expressed readiness to make a bigger contribution to the compensation of those refugees not allowed to return. Shaath declined to confirm or deny that such an offer was made. He simply said: "We want Israel to recognise the right of return of Palestinian refugees, and then we can discuss the details."
Meanwhile, Palestinian negotiators waited on Wednesday morning at the hotel where the talks had been taking place for a decision by the Israeli cabinet on when the talks would resume. Israeli delegation sources said they did not expect the meetings to resume before Sunday.
After weeks of refraining from publicly backing Barak against his election opponent Ariel Sharon, the right-wing Likud leader, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was quoted as saying on Tuesday that a Sharon victory "would be a real disaster for peace efforts."
Commented one Palestinian negotiator: "We don't think that Barak is the best negotiator we have dealt with, and he keeps on changing his mind from day to day. But we know that Sharon is a worse option."
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