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Sharon Reconcile with Peres over Talks With Palestinians
Under an agreement reached with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has been authorized to meet with senior Palestinian officials over a ceasefire aimed at ending the more than 10 months of clashes.
Although it is unclear if this could lead to meetings between Peres and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, the development shows that Sharon has moved away from his policy of "no negotiations under fire," which has been sharply criticized by Peres and other left-wing politicians.
Sharon met with Peres on Sunday after a stormy cabinet meeting, in which ministers split over Sharon's decision on Friday's seizure of the Orient House and other Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem in response to Thursday's suicide bombing in Jerusalem, in which 16 people were killed and over 100 others injured.
Peres and other left-wing ministers criticized the decision to close the Orient House, the representative office of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Jerusalem, expressing fear that such a move could further hamper efforts to end the conflict and resume negotiations with the Palestinians.
Peres have reportedly told Sharon that the Labor Party would quit the coalition government if his policy of "no negotiations under fire" remained in place, representing the biggest challenge to Sharon ever since he took office early this year.
During Sunday's two-hour session between the two, Sharon told Peres that he could meet with senior Palestinian officials once they have taken steps to fight against "terrorism" and Israel has seen a "noticeable reduction" in Palestinian attacks against Israeli targets.
Sharon also said that his meetings with the Palestinians would be confined to the ceasefire and must be accompanied by a senior military officer, stressing that no meetings with Arafat is allowed at present.
Sharon's decision was apparently intended to keep his coalition intact and placate Peres, who strongly supports the idea of negotiating with the Palestinians over the full implementation of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, which took effect in mid-June and the Mitchell report, both aimed at ending the conflict.
Political observers believed that Sharon's decision to allow Peres to contact with senior Palestinian officials could help speed up the implementation of the ceasefire and the Mitchell report and, therefore, is conducive to the reduction of the escalated conflict between the two sides.
Both Israel and the Palestinians have accepted the Mitchell report and the U.S. ceasefire plan, but failed to halt the violence, partly due to the lack of international supervision and deep U.S. involvement.
In such circumstances, top-level contacts have become a necessity for the two sides to discuss how to implement the ceasefire and Peres is deemed as the right person to fulfill the goal.
Peres, who takes a conciliatory tone towards the current Israeli-Palestinian confrontation, on Sunday expressed sympathy for the Palestinians' distress and justified some of their claims.
He admitted in a speech to a Labor gathering that Israel has not kept its word on helping the Palestinians improve their living condition.
It is a mistake to slap a blockade on the Palestinians, who, as a result, see unemployment, distress and poverty rise steadily, he said.
He also urged both the Palestinians and Israelis to stop hostile incitement. He told the Israelis, in particular, to shut their mouths about liquidating, destroying and banishing the Palestinians.
Despite his ups and downs, Peres has enjoyed good relationship with Arafat and other Palestinian leaders, a very important factor for the restoration of mutual respect among leaders of the two sides.
On Sunday, Peres reiterated his view that continuing dialog with Arafat is essential to reduce the violence. Neither side can stop the violence if the current exchanges of fire continue, he warned.
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