Leading Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat expressed caution Monday about separate US consultations with Israel and the Palestinians due to start Tuesday on reviving the troubled peace process, but raised the prospect of trilateral talks.
In an interview with Voice of Palestine radio, Erakat also insisted that Israel abide by international resolutions and end its 33-year occupation of the Palestinian territories.
"We hope that everybody has now realized that peace cannot be established except by ending the Israeli occupation and an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders," said Erakat, who is a member of the Palestinian delegation due to leave for Washinton for talks Tuesday.
Erakat declined to say if he was optimistic or pessimistic about the talks, which come against a backdrop of a spiral of deadly Israeli-Palestinian violence that has rocked the region for almost three months.
"I don't know if there is going to be a three-way meeting (but) it is very possible," said Erakat.
He said Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had told US President Bill Clinton in their recent phone conversation that there must be a "halt to Israeli atrocities, assassinations and siege."
Arafat on Sunday raised the possibility of a meeting with Israel's caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who is counting on a peace deal to help him win leadership elections in February.
Asked about comments by Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami suggesting a compromise on the al-Aqsa mosque compound in occupied east Jerusalem that is holy to both Jews and Muslims, Erakat said the Palestinians insisted on "complete Palestinian sovereignty" over east Jerusalem and its holy sites.
The fate of east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967 and annexed in defiance of international resolutions, was the key stumbling block that led to the collapse of the Camp David peace summit in July.
Israel's Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami cautioned Monday that there was no certainty of a peace deal with the Palestinians being struck before an election for Prime Minister due in two months.
"There is no certainty that we can reach an accord before the election. We can only commit ourselves to making every effort to verify the possibility of reaching such an agreement, which is important for the Israeli government," Ben Ami told reporters.
The foreign minister is leading the Israeli delegation heading later Monday to Washington, where the United States is hosting separate consultations with Israel and the Palestinians on reviving stalled peace negotiations.
"We are going to Washington in a very positive mood which reflects the mood of the people," Ben Ami added.
Despite the tide of Israeli-Palestinian violence that has gripped the region for the past 11 weeks, most opinion polls show that the majority of Israelis are still in favor of pursuing peace with the Palestinians.
"It is our intention once we have an agreement with the Palestinians to bring it to the people, either though a general elections and/or a referendum," Ben Ami said.
Israel's parliament is due to hold a series of votes later Monday that could set the stage for early legislative elections in addition to the ballot for Prime Minister.
"I don't see why we should refrain from exhausting all the possibilities existing for exploring the chances of peace, the fact that we are in an electoral period doesn't change a bit of it," Ben Ami added. "The elections will be a kind of referendum."
Earlier, Israel's Justice Minister Yossi Beilin said that a final peace deal with the Palestinians was possible within weeks, as negotiating teams from the two sides prepared to leave for separate talks in the United States.
"I don't want to raise any illusions by saying that an accord already exists and it remains just to sign it, but there is a reasonable chance of reaching a final accord in the next few weeks," Beilin told army radio.
Despite continued outbreaks of Israeli-Palestinian violence, negotiating teams from the two sides have agreed to hold consultations with officials from the outgoing US administration of President Bill Clinton, anxious to strike a peace deal before he leaves office next month.
"For quite a long while we understood that the window of opportunity is open, especially as long as President Clinton is in power, until January 20," he said in a separate interview with public radio.
"I believe that both sides, the Palestinians and the Israelis, understand the importance of having an understanding or even an agreement by them," he added.
"I believe we can clinch a deal, we will have to pay a price, they will have to pay a price and both of us will win," said Beilin, a dovish member of Prime Minister Ehud Barak's cabinet who was an architect of the 1993 Oslo peace accords.
Barak, his government crippled by the 11 weeks of deadly unrest, is keen to forge a deal with the Palestinians to help him win a election for Prime Minister due to be held in February.
Beilin brushed aside questions about reports that Israel was considering making concessions on the disputed holy site known to Jews as Temple Mount and to Muslims as the al-Aqsa mosque compound or Haram al-Sharif, one of the key sticking points that led to the collapse of July's Camp David summit.
"What we have to speak about is further initiatives and creating ideas in order to find a win-win solution rather than a zero-sum one," he said.
Beilin also said he considered that US President-elect George W. Bush would support Clinton's efforts to reach an accord.
The Israeli delegation to the talks includes Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami, Barak's bureau chief Gilad Sher and former deputy chief of the Shin Beth security service, Israel Hasson.
The Palestinian delegation is made up of information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, leading negotiator Saeb Erakat and Gaza Strip preventive security chief Mohammad Dahlan -- JERUSALEM (AFP)
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