Israeli Housing Minister Natan Sharansky told Radio Israel Sunday that there would be no meeting between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, as had been expected on Sunday.
"The prime minister informed me he was against such a meeting taking place today because the terrorism is still going on," Sharansky said on the radio.
A high-level Palestinian official said earlier that the much-delayed meeting to try to work out a ceasefire would be held at Gaza City's international airport at 5:00pm (1400 GMT), according to AFP.
There had been growing political opposition on the right on Sunday to a Peres-Arafat meeting.
Israel Radio reported earlier that the far-right National Union Party was scheduled to meet before the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday to discuss whether to remain part of the national unity government. Shas Party leader Eli Yishai also said he was opposed to the meeting and he was demanding that the inner cabinet convene to decide whether the Peres-Arafat meeting could take place.
In Peres' office Saturday, there was talk of the "great efforts that Arafat and the Palestinian Authority were making to stop terrorism and in preventive actions."
Defense Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer seemed to echo those words when he said that he saw "a clear trend toward an end to the violence" on the part of the Palestinians.
Sharon was slightly more skeptical when he told US Secretary of State Colin Powell that preparations were being made toward holding the meeting, but that it all depended on whether the ceasefire held.
Ben Eliezer has handed Peres a defense establishment document which includes a series of demands from Arafat, including a complete cease-fire as well as PA action against “terror,” in exchange for an easing of the blockades on West Bank cities and the lifting of economic restrictions.
If Peres and Arafat do meet, then the two will release a joint statement which was drafted at a meeting Saturday between Peres and leading Palestinian negotiators Abu Ala and Saeb Erekat in Tel Aviv.
According to Haaretz, citing Israeli sources, these are the main points of the anticipated joint communiqué:
* A commitment to the cease-fire and the implementation of the Tenet understandings (security measures) and of the Mitchell Report (gradual movement toward a renewal of the diplomatic negotiations).
* Redeployment of the Israeli army to positions held before the outbreak of the Intifada a year ago.
* Resumption of the joint security coordination committee, headed by a CIA representative.
* An end to incitement.
* Lifting of closures and opening the roads connecting the Palestinian towns.
* Issuing work permits to Palestinians to enter Israel – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
