Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said during a visit to a West Bank army base Tuesday that the window remained open for a revival of peace talks with the Palestinians but only when there is a reduction in violence.
"We will keep the window open all the time for the resumption of political negotiations and ultimately this is the only way to solve the conflict," Barak said.
"But at the same time we will stand firm, we will resist any kind of attempt to impose the use of force," he told reporters at this army base south of the West Bank town of Nablus.
The almost 10 weeks of violent Israeli-Palestinian confrontations have claimed the lives of more than 300 people, most of them Palestinians.
Barak, who last week proposed a scaled-down peace deal that was immediately rejected by the Palestinians, brushed aside questions over whether he had any plans to meet Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
"I cannot give a valuable answer to that question at this point," he said.
Barak's latest proposal is for an interim accord by which Israel would recognize a Palestinian state on 50 percent of the West Bank and put off the tough questions of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees for years.
Barak, a former army chief, flew into the Horon base south of Nablus by helicopter accompanied by current chief of staff General Shaul Mofaz.
A total of 17 soldiers and 18 Israeli civilians, including Jewish settlers, have been killed in the unrest.
The army said it was preparing for a long campaign of unrest in the Palestinian territories as officials began debating their budget demands for the year 2001.
"The chief of staff wants a budget that will enable the army to confront all eventualities, particularly prolonged Palestinian violence," the army said in a statement -- HORON ARMY BASE (AFP)
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