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Barak Does Not Rule out Partial Deal with Palestinians
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday that he did not rule out the possibility to seal a partial deal with the Palestinians, which will leave some problems for further negotiations.
Speaking at Sunday morning's weekly cabinet meeting, the prime minister stressed that while Israel would prefer to settle all disagreements and resolve all of the issues with the Palestinians in one comprehensive deal, it is still possible to achieve a partial agreement, according to a statement issued by his office.
Such a partial agreement will resolve the disputes between the two sides over most issues, while defining a mechanism and pre-determining a timetable for negotiating a settlement on a small number of remaining issues, the statement added.
However, Barak emphasized, it will be a mistake for the Israeli side to raise the possibility to extend the interim agreement, because such an arrangement will only force Israel to continue transferring assets without receiving anything in return.
Barak noted that Israel must continue to exhaust all chances of reaching a settlement, which will resolve all or "most" of the issues, rather than accept an extended interim deal.
The prime minister's remarks echoed those of his acting foreign minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami, who said last Thursday that Israel does not rule out a partial peace deal with the Palestinians which excludes a solution of the fate of Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem issue, including the issue of sovereignty over the Temple Mount, is the bottleneck in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. It was the deal-breaker at last July's Camp David summit between Barak, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and United States President Bill Clinton.
Israel claimed the holy city as its "eternal and undivided" capital, while the Palestinians want East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast war, as capital of their future state.
During and after the Camp David summit, various proposals on Jerusalem and the Temple Mount had been raised by Egyptian, American and European officials. However, none of them have been agreed upon by the two sides.
Barak reiterated Sunday that Israel is opposed to the transfer of sovereignty over the Temple Mount to the Palestinians or any Islamic body, an idea which has been promoted by Arafat recently.
Barak also said that he is considering a summit meeting with Arafat, which will be an essential confidence-building measure at this moment of truth for reviving the peace talks, even if concrete issues are not discussed.
However, he said that no meeting has yet been determined. Earlier, senior Palestinian officials reported that Arafat has refused such a meeting with Barak.
In a related development, Israeli Foreign Ministry announced Sunday that Ben-Ami will begin his visit to Egypt and Jordan on Monday.
During the visits, the acting foreign minister will meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan King Abdullah Bin Hussein to discuss the peace negotiations. Both of the Arab leaders have great influence on the Palestinian side.
Ben-Ami may test Mubarak and Abdullah's reaction to a package of bridging proposals which the Americans are working on in the past few days. Both sides now are waiting for the proposal package for continuing their talks.
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