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Newsletter : 1fax0117.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN Jan. 17, 2001, Vol. 9, No. 7
Israelis, Palestinians Hold Secret Talks
By Laurie Kassman (VOA-Jerusalem)
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met Tuesday at a secret location in Jerusalem for another round of high-level peace talks. The talks are aimed at narrowing differences over a U.S. framework for negotiating a final peace agreement. But two key issues still divide Israelis and Palestinians - the future status of Jerusalem and the right of return for millions of Palestinian refugees.
An international commission appointed to determine the causes of the violence is due in Israel next week for a second visit. The U.S.-appointed committee is headed by former Sen. George Mitchell. In preparation for the visit, technical experts visited Al Aqsa mosque on Saturday. Israel has complained the fact-finders violated protocol by not informing the government of their visit beforehand.
The mosque is on the disputed hilltop in East Jerusalem, which is considered holy to both Muslims and Jews. Future sovereignty over the area is one of the key obstacles to a peace agreement.
Prime Minister Ehud Barak's campaign commercials brand right-wing Likud candidate Ariel Sharon as a warmonger and remind voters of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon when Sharon was Defense Minister. In contrast, Sharon's ads promise he will bring peace.
Peres, Ze'evi Say Agreement to be Signed Thursday
Israel Faxx Staff Report
Channel Two Television in Jerusalem reported it was told by Regional Cooperation Minister Shimon Peres, a former prime minister, that there was a good possibility that a peace agreement could be signed on Thursday. He said that if both sides sit down and hold serious discussions, there is a good chance that an agreement can be reached.
Israel Radio reported that a "credible source" told Knesset member Rehavam Ze'evi that an agreement would be signed between Israel and the Palestinians on Thursday.
Ha'aretz reported Tuesday that, according to the agreement, 250,000 Palestinians will be allowed to return to Israel over a period of five years to be reunited with their families. Ze'evi said that Israel had agreed to transfer east Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, to Palestinian control.
Sharon Reiterates His Separation Plan
Israel Faxx Staff Report
Likud Chairman Ariel Sharon, the party's candidate for prime minister, believes that Israel should prepare for a unilateral separation from the Palestinians, but he has said that he supports implementation of the plan only in response to a unilateral declaration of independence on the part of the Palestinian Authority.
There are only a few differences between Sharon's proposal and a separation plan devised by Prime Minister Ehud Barak and they are based on the two leaders' different perceptions of a peace deal with the Palestinians.
Barak wants a permanent settlement and desires to draw the separation line around the large settlement blocs that are intended for annexation to Israel based on the Camp David understandings and the peace proposal of President Bill Clinton. Barak's plan also calls for a wide security zone in the Jordan Valley with all the settlements under Jerusalem's control.
Sharon Says Negev is Not Barak's to Surrender
Israel Faxx Staff Report
Likud prime ministerial candidate Ariel Sharon said while visiting the Negev that Prime Minister Ehud Barak had no right to hand over any part of the region to the Palestinians. "The Negev is not Barak's private property and no one has authorized him to give back areas of the Negev."
He told reporters covering the visit, "We came to have a good look at the (Halutza) area and understand the dangers in handing it over to the Palestinians...Such a step is rash and borders on irresponsibility. Barak is making a grave mistake because Arafat is continuing with his plans to implement the partition plan from 1947, with the objective of pushing Israel back to the partition lines that were already rejected then.
"Giving back territories constitutes a dangerous precedent and allowing the Palestinians into the heart of the Negev would put the towns bordering on the Haluza dunes enclave in a difficult position and turn them into confrontation line communities."
Sharon said that the Negev was the country's principal land reserve and one million immigrants would have to be settled in it within the next 10-15 years. (Editor's Note: Sharon lives on a private farm in the Negev)
Tel Aviv Pub-Goers Nominate Clinton for Israeli PM
Israel Faxx Staff Report
Reuters says if President Bill Clinton doesn't know what he will be doing Saturday afternoon, some Israelis do. They are offering him the prime ministership of Israel.
"He's a pensioner. He will be looking for a job and he won't want to lower his standards," said Edik Ehrlich, 38, a part-owner of the Abraxas Pub in Tel Aviv, who launched the "Clinton for Prime Minister" campaign. "To be prime minister of Israel is better then president of the United States."
Ehrlich said that if Clinton accepted the job offer, he would be granted honorary citizenship -- at least by his drinking establishment's constituency. "That he's not Jewish, doesn't matter," he said.
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