No Israeli-Palestinian Deal at Taba Talks
J E R U S A L E M , Jan. 28, 2001 -- Israel and the Palestinianshave ended five days of talks in Egypt without a peace deal, allbut killing off hopes of a breakthrough before an election whichis expected to oust Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
Negotiators issued a joint statement late on Saturday sayingthey were closer than ever to an agreement after the talks inthe Egyptian Red Sea resort of Taba.
They said they hoped the remaining gaps would be bridgedafter the election on February 6, even though opinion polls showBarak losing to right-wing challenger Ariel Sharon by 16 to 18percentage points.
"It is doubtful there has ever been a round of talks soserious, deep and detailed," Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami,Israel's chief negotiator, said in Taba on Saturday.
Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Korei, also known as Abu Ala,was cautious, however, saying: "No doubt gaps on all issuesremain. I cannot say these gaps are easy to bridge because theissues are not easy."
Both sides said Palestinian President Yasser Arafat mightalso meet Barak in Sweden on Tuesday or Wednesday in a bid tofurther boost peace hopes.
A leading pollster, Yaacov Levy of Gallup Israel, toldIsrael's Army Radio there was no indication the peace effortswere paying off. "There is no serious momentum of closing thegap," Levy said.
Speaking at a campaign event in working-class Bat Yam nearTel Aviv on Saturday night, Sharon, 72, accused Barak, 58, offailing to boost his election hopes despite a joint statementwith the Palestinians.
"When it will be verified to the citizens of Israel what isin this paper, what Mr Barak conceded and what he is prepared toconcede, it won't add votes," said Sharon, architect of Israel's1982 Lebanon invasion and champion of illegal Jewish settlement.
Bloodshed has continued in the West Bank and Gaza Stripsince the talks began, and at one point prompted the Israelis tosuspend them for two days.
At least 373 people have been killed in the past fourmonths, 312 of them Palestinians, 48 Israelis and 13 IsraeliArabs. Several Palestinians were hurt in Saturday's clashes nearRamallah and Nablus in the West Bank, Palestinian sources said.
Stumbling Blocks Remain
The negotiators discussed four main issues in Taba — thefate of Palestinian refugees, borders, security and the futureof Jerusalem. The four were the main obstacles to a deal afteran inconclusive U.S.-brokered summit last July.
A Palestinian official said the sides had agreed not topublicise the points of agreement hammered out by thenegotiating teams so that they might resume their work withoutintervention after the election.
The Palestinians want to create a state in the West Bank andGaza Strip, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
Palestinian negotiators told Reuters that progress had beenmade on territorial issues, refugees, and security.
One negotiator said the sides had agreed Israel would remainin control of four percent of the West Bank in the areas of theJewish settlements of Ariel, Gush Etzion and near Jerusalem.
He said the figure did not include a possible land swap thatwould give Israel more West Bank land in exchange for an equalamount of territory inside its own borders.
Negotiators were discussing dismantling slightly more than100 Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza and leavingsome 25 in place, the delegate said.
He added that some settlements around Jerusalem would bedismantled and that all settlements would be cleared away fromthe Gaza Strip and the Jordan Valley.Likud Says it Not Bound by Agreement
Sharon, the Likud party chief, takes a tougher line againstthe Palestinians than Barak does, opposing territorialcompromises favoured by the Labour prime minister.
Likud lawmaker Limor Livnat suggested the Taba talks wouldcomplicate life for a Sharon-led government, having failed togarner the support of the 120-seat Knesset, Israel's parliament.
"We are certainly not duty-bound to anything that failed toreceive the approval of the Knesset, any sort of agreements,understandings that didn't receive the approval of the Knesset,but they've created a sort of very complicated internationalsituation for the next government," she said.
Israeli Arabs, 12 percent of Israel's electorate, said thatfor lack of an accord in Taba, they still planned to withholdthe support they gave Barak when he won election last time.
The Arab minority in Israel assails Barak over the policekilling of 13 Israeli Arabs at the start of the Palestinianuprising in October and accuse him of neglecting their needs.
"To my great regret no agreement was reached for theestablishment of a Palestinian state that would change thisdecision," said Israeli Arab lawmaker Ahmed Tibi.