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Israel Rejects U.S. Summit Proposal: Report
Israel has rejected the U.S. initiative for an emergency summit between Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Palestinian National Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and United States President Bill Clinton.
The Internet edition of Israel's leading paper Ha'aretz Monday quoted Israeli and U.S. sources as saying that the U.S. administration is also unenthusiastic about holding a summit as long as violence in the area continues.
A diplomatic source in Jerusalem said Barak would agree to attend the summit only if it was well prepared, following the failures of the July summit in Camp David and last week's summit in Paris, which failed to yield a formal ceasefire agreement between Barak and Arafat due to differences over the formation of an international fact-finding commission.
The commission was called for by the Palestinian side to probe into the recent bloody clashes, which have claimed 89 lives, mostly Palestinians, and injured more than 2,000.
Israel has set two conditions for attending the summit: One is to hear a clear call from Arafat to stop the violence.
"Even if it takes some time to achieve total calm, we expect a clear and unequivocal order from Arafat to the Tanzim (a shock force of the Fatah organization) to stop the violence," said a political source.
The second condition is a political preparation to ensure that the summit will end with an agreement.
The report said that Israel demands that Arafat agree to the U.S. bridging proposals. Barak has agreed to accept the proposals as a basis for negotiations.
The Palestinians have not yet accepted them and object to the main issues within the U.S. proposals, which do not recognize the right of return for refugees or Palestinian sovereignty over the disputed holy site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, inside the Old City of Jerusalem.
The dispute on sovereignty over the holy site was a stumbling block in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
"We will not attend another summit just to talk, as we did in Camp David and Paris," the political source said.
U.S. and Israeli sources said U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright had recommended that Clinton not hurry to convene a summit, rather make sure that it is well prepared so that it could succeed and not fail like before.
Egypt has refused Clinton's proposal to host the summit.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa on Monday denied reports that a regional summit will take place in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh.
In another development, Barak refused to meet Monday evening with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, who arrived in Israel on an emergency trip to defuse the crisis in the region.
Barak said he would only meet Annan after the U.N. chief meets with Palestinian National Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, which will take place later Monday evening.
Annan's meeting with Barak is slated for Tuesday.
Shortly after arrival in Tel Aviv, Annan met Israeli acting Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami and called on Israelis and Palestinians to shift from street clashes to the negotiating table.
Ben-Ami, however, told a press conference following meeting with Annan that there were no signs that the Palestinians had met Barak's ultimatum Saturday to end a deadly cycle of violence within 48 hours or see the collapse of a peace process already in tatters.
Barak is now convening his cabinet for a special session to decide on the next move for both the shaky coalition and the staggering peace process.
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