Israel is still ready to negotiate a peace deal with the Palestinians, but will not be made to change its stance by the upsurge of violence in the Palestinian territories, Prime Minister Ehud Barak told journalists Monday.
"We are ready to negotiate an agreement even about difficult and far reaching questions, but we shall refuse to give in to force with the same determination we showed in our quest for peace," he said at a press briefing in Beit El, the West Bank headquarters of the Israeli forces.
"The only way to persuade us to change is by negotiation," he said.
He called on the Palestinians to choose between negotiation and confrontation, asking them to "respond to the appeals by (US) President (Bill) Clinton and numerous other heads of state to end the violence."
In a direct challenge to the Palestinian leadership he warned: "Either you are moving towards an agreement that will necessarily include a price ... or you are moving towards fresh confrontation."
"We are fully decided to seek a peace partner, but also to defend ourselves," he said.
He once again warned the Palestinian Authority to stop the shooting.
"What has happened is serious, but the most serious thing is that the Palestinians are violating all the agreements (made with Israel) while members of the Tanzim (the hard core of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement) and sometimes the police are firing at our men," he said.
Earlier Monday Barak told Israeli radio that the Palestinian Authority bears "a heavy responsibility" for the eruption of violence which has swept across the Palestinian territories and spilled over into Israel, claiming more than 40 dead since Friday.
Israeli Deputy Defence Minister Ephraim Sneh said negotiations would not resume until the violence ended.
"We are ready to proceed with the peace process but not under this wave of violence," he told CNN television -- BEIT EL, West Bank (AFP)
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