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Israel Lifts Ultimatum on Palestinians
Israel has dropped its ultimatum on the Palestinians to give more time for diplomatic efforts, said Israeli government spokesman on Wednesday.
"There is no more ultimatum" whatsoever to the Palestinian National Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat following the expiry of the 48 hour-ultimatum on Monday evening, Nachman Shai told a news briefing.
Despite the fact that Arafat made "no response to the Israeli call," Israel imposes no more ultimatum to the Palestinians so as to allow more time for diplomatic efforts.
The spokesman said that the present focus of efforts has shifted from military clashes to diplomatic efforts and the situation in the West Bank and Gaza has substantially quieted down despite ongoing sporadic skirmishes.
The current differences between the Israelis and Palestinians centered on the issue of setting up an international inquiry commission to probe into the recent bloody clashes between the Israeli security forces and Palestinians, which have claimed more than 90 lives, mostly Palestinians, and injured more than 2,000 others.
Israel has agreed to form an inquiry commission of U.S., Palestinian and Israeli experts. The Palestinians insisted on a broader one that will also involve Egyptian and French experts.
Israeli Minister of Regional Cooperation Shimon Peres, now on a trip to Europe to drum up international support, said Wednesday that Israeli has nothing to fear from an international fact-finding investigation into the recent wave of Israeli-Palestinian clashes.
The Israeli government spokesman said that an agreement on the set-up of the commission is a precondition for the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks.
However, following signs of a upturn of the situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which Israel attributed to an order from Arafat to stop the violence, both sides have again come into a war of words.
The Palestinians Wednesday denied reports of a ceasefire order from Arafat, saying that was all out of the Israelis' "deceitful propaganda."
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, on the other hand, urged the opposition Likud party to join a "unity government," warning a possible resumption of terrorist attacks.
Barak has repeatedly using the coalition threat, which would mean the end of the peace process. The call, however, has been rejected by Likud leader Ariel Sharon whose visit to a disputed Jerusalem site on September 28 sparked the latest cycle of Israeli-Palestinian conflicts.
It remains to be seen whether the current flurry of international mediation efforts would restore real peace and bring the Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table, and if so, how long it will take.
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