Egypt: Mideast Talks Called Off

J E R U S A L E M, Dec. 27, 2000 -- A Mideast summit planned for Egypt was calledoff early Thursday after the Palestinians expressed deepreservations about U.S. proposals for a comprehensive peacesettlement, Egyptian officials said.

Would Israel Give Up the Temple Mount?

Under Clinton’s plan, Israel would have to relinquish sovereignty over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s walled Old City, site of ancient Jewish Temples and the holiest place in Judaism. The Palestinians would gain control of the hilltop mosque compound, which they call Haram as-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary.

Both religious and secular Jews have been dismayed by the proposal. In an apparent reference to Israeli concessions on the holy site, Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami told Israel television Tuesday night that the “hour of the great, historical compromise has arrived.”

Under the plan, Palestinians would be offered sovereignty on top of the compound, the site of the al-Aqsa and Dome of the Rock mosques, while Israel would control the area underneath, including Judaism’s Western Wall, a Palestinian official said, adding that the plan was little different from one proposed at the failed Camp David talks.

“The only new thing was the issue of the deployment of international forces, but this too has no meaning if they are going to supervise such a deal. Therefore, the [Palestinian] leadership does not see a change, except in the approach and the language.”

Palestinians had said the U.S. ideas included Israel handing over 97 percent of the territories and that it would annex blocs of Jewish settlements and give the Palestinians tracts of land inside the Jewish state in exchange.

But the official said Clinton’s proposals called for the Israeli annexation of 5 percent of the land, a long-term lease by Israel of three percent and “1 percent annexation of Jewish settlements” in Jerusalem.

Israel, he said, also wanted a leasing arrangement so it could hold on to the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, adjacent to the divided West Bank town of Hebron, and for Jewish settlers to remain in areas inside Hebron.

Right of Return?

In return for Israel’s concession on the site, Clinton has reportedly called on the Palestinians to dramatically scale back their demand on a “right of return” for millions of refugees who fled or were driven from their homes in Mideast wars.

The proposal would apparently let refugees move to a Palestinian homeland in the West Bank and Gaza, but only a very few would be able to return to Israel to reunite families, according to reports.

The “right of return” has been a cornerstone of Palestinian policy for decades.

But Israel says it could never agree to accept the nearly 4 million Palestinian refugees living in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and at camps in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. There numbers would dramatically change the demographics of Israel, where 80 percent of the 6 million people are Jews.

ABCNEWS’ Josh Gerstein, and the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.-->

But the official said Clinton’s proposals called for the Israeli annexation of 5 percent of the land, a long-term lease by Israel of three percent and “1 percent annexation of Jewish settlements” in Jerusalem.

Israel, he said, also wanted a leasing arrangement so it could hold on to the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, adjacent to the divided West Bank town of Hebron, and for Jewish settlers to remain in areas inside Hebron.

Right of Return?

In return for Israel’s concession on the site, Clinton has reportedly called on the Palestinians to dramatically scale back their demand on a “right of return” for millions of refugees who fled or were driven from their homes in Mideast wars.

The proposal would apparently let refugees move to a Palestinian homeland in the West Bank and Gaza, but only a very few would be able to return to Israel to reunite families, according to reports.

The “right of return” has been a cornerstone of Palestinian policy for decades.

But Israel says it could never agree to accept the nearly 4 million Palestinian refugees living in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and at camps in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. There numbers would dramatically change the demographics of Israel, where 80 percent of the 6 million people are Jews.

ABCNEWS’ Josh Gerstein, and the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.-->