Reaching Israeli-Palestinian Deal Possible: BarakIsraeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak told one of his ministers here Friday morning that it is possible to reach an agreement with the Palestinians at Camp David, despite the difficulties in the negotiations.Israeli Environment Minister Dalia Itzik, who had phone conversations with Barak Friday morning, said that Barak made this estimation, although it is clear, he admitted, that the negotiation is difficult and complicated. The Camp David summit, attended by Barak, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and US President Bill Clinton, began on July 11 and tried to resolve all the core issues between the two sides, including the status of Jerusalem. Itzik did not say whether Barak's optimistic remarks had relations with the Jerusalem sovereignty sharing proposal, which was revealed early Friday by Rabbi Michael Melchior, the minister without portfolio and one member of the Israeli delegation to Camp David. It appears recently that the intractable Jerusalem issue had been the major stumbling block in the peace talks, due to both sides' uncompromising stands on the Holy City. Israel regards Jerusalem as its "eternal and undivided capital,"while the Palestinians want to see at least the eastern part of the city, which Israel captured during the 1967 Middle East war, as the capital of their own future state. Melchior told Israel Radio Friday that Barak is inclined to agree to share sovereignty with the Palestinians in East Jerusalem. According to the US-presented proposal, Israel would annex several Jewish settlements near Jerusalem, including Ma'aleh Adumim, the largest one on the West Bank, into a bigger Jerusalem municipality. In return, Palestinian National Authority could share sovereignty in Arab East Jerusalem, while Israel will maintain security control over the areas. Israel will agree to establish some safe passages for providing Arab pilgrims access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the holiest Muslim site in the stone-walled Old City. Meanwhile, the status quo in the Old City, which is full of famous religious sites of the three world religions -- Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, will be maintained for several years, during which a final solution could be found. The model is something like granting administration-plus sovereignty of East Jerusalem to the Palestinians, the report concluded. It was reported that the Palestinians are considering the proposal. Itzik said she had briefed the prime minister about the public reactions to the proposal and an opinion poll showed that most Israelis do not support such a plan. The poll, which was published by Israel's Yediot Aharonot newspaper Friday morning, indicated that 70 percent of Israeli interviewees were opposed to handing over sovereignty of any part of the city to the Palestinians, while only 27 percent said they would not oppose such a handover. The poll interviewed 525 Israeli Jews and had a margin of error of 4.2 percent. Meanwhile, Ariel Sharon, leader of the major opposition Likud party, blasted Barak for his reported concessions regarding Jerusalem, and accused the prime minister of breaking his election promise not to divide the Holy city. Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert, a member of the right-wing Likud, also told Israel Radio that if the report were true, it would be a "flagrant, unequivocal" violation of the commitment Barak gave to the people of Israel concerning Jerusalem. However, Justice Minister Yossi Beilin, one of the most dovish figures in Barak's cabinet, retorted that it is an illusion to consider these Arab villages and neighborhoods as part of a "united Jerusalem." Beilin said those neighborhoods are not parts of Jerusalem for any Israelis and the issue should not be standing in the way between the Jewish state and a peace accord with the Palestinians. "We definitely don't need these villages," he told Israel's Army Radio. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |