Israeli Security Cabinet Meeting AdjournsIsrael's inner-circle security cabinet meeting adjourns Wednesday noon after several hours of discussions on the American proposals for a peace deal with the Palestinians, Israel Radio reported.The meeting will resume at 7 o'clock Wednesday evening and make a final response to the bridging proposals, which were presented by U.S. outgoing President Bill Clinton to Israeli and Palestinian negotiators at the end of the Washington talks Saturday, the report said. Speaking at the beginning of the session, Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Barak said that his mission is to avoid bloodshed, referring to the violent clashes between Israeli troops and the Palestinians in the past 12 weeks, during which more than 300 people have been killed, and 10,000 more wounded, most of them Palestinians. He stressed that if Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said "yes" to the US suggestions, it will be very difficult for Israel to say "no." According to the radio report, other speakers at the meeting also said that if Israel could not grasp the chance to reach a deal with the Palestinians, its relations with Egypt and Jordan will be adversely affected and the development may turn the whole region into chaos. During the morning session, Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben- Ami, who headed the Israeli negotiation team in Washington, spelled out the principles of the proposals to security cabinet ministers. Barak's bureau chief Gilad Sher, another chief negotiator, briefed the ministers on Israel's reservation about the proposals. Israel Defense Forces' Chief of General Staff Shaul Mofaz and Military Intelligence head Amos Malka also participated in the meeting. Israeli media reports said the U.S. proposals dealt with all the thorniest issues in the Israeli-Palestinian talks, including the fate of Jerusalem, the return of Palestinian refugees, border, and Jewish settlements. However, several security cabinet members expressed their reservations about the clause regarding "the right of return" of Palestinian refugees who fled their homeland after the 1948 and 1967 Mideast War. The ministers were worried that if the Palestinian refugees are allowed to return to Israel, the Jewish state will become a bi-national state and lose its Jewish character. Israeli Radio reported early Wednesday that a three-way summit between Barak, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will take place in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh on Thursday. The development may indicate that Israel has decided to accept the proposals as the basis for further negotiations. |
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