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Barak Outlines Palestinian Peace Plan As Israel's Factions Plot Strategy
by Marius Schattner
TEL AVIV (AFP) - Prime Minister Ehud Barak outlined his vision of a future interim peace deal with the Palestinians on Thursday, as Israel's political parties began preparing for a long and turbulent election campaign.
Barak said he was ready to "move heaven and earth" to make peace after two months of deadly Israeli-Palestinian violence that chipped away at his already shaky minority government.
He proposed putting off the thorniest issues of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees for up to three years and offered an interim accord transferring more West Bank land to the Palestinians, recognizing an independent state and giving Israel control over Jewish settlements.
However, the Palestinians swiftly rejected his plan.
Barak's battered Labor Party, pushed toward early elections, was meeting Thursday to discuss a date for primaries, as a feisty right-wing opposition tried to block his efforts to strike a peace deal he can take to the nation.
The beleaguered prime minister has faced a mountain of criticism as violence has spiraled between Palestinians and Israeli troops, leaving more than 290 people dead, mostly Arabs living in the territories.
Both Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who spoke by phone a week ago, dismissed media reports of a possible summit in Cairo or Amman to try to end the violence.
And fresh clashes flared in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Thursday, the worst in two days, leaving two Palestinians dead and several more wounded.
Israel is beefing up security in Jerusalem, bracing for possible violence when Muslims flock to the al-Aqsa mosque compound for the first Friday prayers of the holy month of Ramadan.
Israel has lifted age restrictions for worshippers but has refused to end a blockade that prevents Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip from praying at the site, at the center of the two-month uprising.
Barak's proposal is to transfer to Arafat's self-rule authority another 10% of the West Bank, the whole area being land seized by Israel in the 1967 war. The Palestinians now have full or partial control over just 40%.
"If we don't reach an accord on Jerusalem and the refugees we could conclude an extended interim accord under which we would give them 10% to ensure territorial continuity, while recognizing a Palestinian state," Barak told a press conference in Tel Aviv.
He said an interim deal should also give Israel control over Jewish settlements in the occupied territories.
But a deal on the future of occupied east Jerusalem and the right of return for the some 3.7 million Palestinian refugees, among the most emotive issues at the heart of their half a century conflict, would be put off for another two or three years."
"Any delay [on a final peace deal] is rejected completely," Arafat's top aide Nabil Abu Rudeina said in Gaza. "A just peace should be based on comprehensive solutions including Jerusalem and refugees, for without that there will no peace and security in the region."
Barak last month suspended the peace process because of the violence, although negotiations had been stalled since the Camp David peace summit collapsed in July.
Media reports said Thursday that opposition MPs had proposed legislation to be considered next week that would bar any attempt by Barak to strike an accord.
Palestinian officials have urged the United Nations to send in a force to protect their people against what they describe as unbridled Israeli aggression. On Wednesday, Mali submitted a draft resolution to the Security Council calling for the deployment of some 2,000 unarmed U.N. observers.
Israel has repeatedly rejected the idea, saying it does not want to "internationalize" the conflict or diminish the role of the United States, its chief broker in the region.
However, Israel is more preoccupied with internal political struggles after MPs voted Tuesday to hold an early poll, which is expected in May.
An opinion poll Thursday showed former right-wing Likud party leader and ex-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu would beat Barak by 51% to 37% if polls were held now.
But the survey, published by Israel's largest daily, Yediot Aharonot, said Barak would beat current Likud chief Ariel Sharon, whose visit to al-Aqsa on September 28th sparked the current unrest.
Political commentators said Barak wanted an "urgent" meeting of the party's central committee in order to hold primaries as soon as possible and discourage potential rivals - namely parliamentary speaker Avraham Burg - from vying for the leadership.
Burg, a pro-peace religious Jew, has not said whether he is interested in challenging Barak.
Netanyahu, currently in the United States, has not said if he will try for a political comeback, which would presage a bitter leadership struggle with Sharon.
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