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Barak Remains at Camp David Due to Clinton's Efforts
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak told his confidants Thursday that he agreed to stay on at Camp David for talks with the Palestinians only out of appreciations for US President Bill Clinton's peace efforts.
Speaking with Minister in Prime Minister's Office Haim Ramon and Science, Culture and Sports Minister Matan Vilnai by phone from Camp David, Barak said that Clinton asked him to stay on for another four days, Israeli officials revealed.
Clinton, who already postponed his Wednesday departure for an G- 8 summit in Japan for 24 hours, finally left Camp David, where he, Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had convened a summit for reaching an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, on Thursday morning and will return on Sunday.
Barak also briefed Eli Yishai, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, and Yossi Sarid, leader of the left-wing Meretz party, about the latest developments at Camp David.
The impression he got after the phone contact, Yishai claimed, is that the negotiation has entered an extremely difficult stage.
Shas and Meretz, who holds 17 and 10 seats in the 120-member Knesset (Parliament) respectively, are critical for parliamentary approval of any agreement Barak reached with the Palestinians.
Officials in Barak's office said that Barak now did not know when he could come back.
The summit, which began last Tuesday, aims to resolve all the core issues between the two sides, such as the future status of Jerusalem, Jewish settlements, Palestinian refugees, borders, security and water.
On Wednesday, a deep crisis emerged when Barak threatened to leave Camp David without an accord in hands, accusing the Palestinians of not acting as a true peace partner.
White House spokesman Joe Lockhart announced that the summit had failed early Thursday. Shortly after, however, Clinton told a dramatic news conference that the sides had agreed to remain at Camp David and continue their talks.
During his four-day absence, Clinton said, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will mediate on behalf of him between the two sides and continue to try and close the gaps.
Since then, the negotiations had resumed, Israel Radio reported.
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