GAZA (IslamOnline) - Israel will step up its defenses around Israeli settlements littered in the occupied Palestinian West Bank in preparation for a possible Palestinian declaration of statehood, an Israeli newspaper reported on Wednesday.
According to the Israeli daily, Ha'artez, in a plan approved by Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Israel will unilaterally widen its security belt around settlements and further enforce its military presence in the Jordan River valley.
Ha'artez said the scheme, prepared by top aids of the prime minister, aims to discourage Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat against declaring a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.
The newspaper also said the plan would serve in the case of further serious escalation in violence or possible Palestinian attacks against Israeli settlers.
Among the other aims of the plan is to keep "the Jewish character" of Israel by isolating the settlers away from the Palestinians, keeping settlements under Israeli control and strengthening the Israeli position in any future peace talks with the Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resumed talks Tuesday after a day's freeze after the killing of a Jewish settler in the Gaza Strip. No breakthrough was achieved during the three-hour meeting although negotiators described the discussions as "deep and serious".
In its Internet edition, the Israeli English-language daily Jerusalem Post said that although differences remained among the Israeli cabinet over "the aim of negotiations during the three weeks before the elections," Israel saw it was inevitable that talks should continue.
Barak favors a slower pace of talks with the Palestinians for fear that intense talks could negatively affect his election campaign.
Shlomo Bin Ami, Israeli foreign minister, says it's expedient to push ahead with talks and to secure an understanding before U.S. President Bill Clinton leaves office on January 20th.
The paper said Regional Cooperation Minister Shimon Peres reportedly argued that it is still possible to sign a new accord by the end of the week.
There was no immediate Palestinian reaction to the reports, but Arafat has often put off plans to declare statehood under both Arab and international pressure. The U.S. has said it may take punitive measures if the Palestinians took independent steps towards setting up their own state.
