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U.S. Mideast Envoy: Window of Chances for Peace Deal Dwindling
Visiting U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Dennis Ross said Friday that the window of chances for reaching a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians is dwindling.
Ross made the remark while meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak who told him that it is pointless to hold another summit meeting before seeing a substantial change in the Palestinian stance.
Earlier in the day before meeting Israeli President Moshe Katsav, Ross said that it is still too early to say whether the Israelis and Palestinians are able to reach an agreement in the wake of the failure of last month's Camp David summit.
Ross said the summit meeting was significant but there are still differences that have to be overcome between the two sides.
The special envoy, who arrived here Thursday in a bid to revive the peace talks, also met Minister of Regional Cooperation Shimon Peres Friday afternoon.
Ross on Thursday met acting Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami who said that "another summit would be reasonable only if there was a noticeable move" in the stance of the Palestinian National Authority.
In another development on Friday, Barak's office said in a statement that there are no formal understandings at this point on the fate of the Jordan Valley in the negotiations with the Palestinians.
The statement added that any agreement would include continued Israeli settlement and security presence in the region, which was seized by the Israelis in the 1967 Middle East War.
The statement was in response to a request by the right-wing United Settlement Movement for a clarification of Israel's position on the matter following remarks by cabinet minister Amnon Lipkin-Shahak Friday morning that the Jordan Valley settlements will come under Palestinian sovereignty in a final status agreement.
Earlier, there have also been speculations that the Jordan Valley is likely to be evacuated in a future peace deal with the Palestinians as the region is mostly filled with small settlements which house about 4,000 people.
The future of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories is one of the core issues to be settled by the Israelis and Palestinians in their final status negotiations. There are currently about 190,000 Israelis living in 125 settlements.
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