By Munir K. Nasser
Chief Correspondent - Washington, DC
Albawaba.com
Top Palestinian and Israeli negotiators left Washington Thursday after a round of meetings with US Middle East peace team without any “American bridging proposals” on Jerusalem.
According to a State Department official who spoke to Albawaba.com, the talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators had no breakthroughs, “but at least they are talking to each other and have met face to face together in Washington.”
The official stressed that the parties will resume their contacts in the region, but no US official will participate in those contacts at this stage. “President Clinton and Secretary Albright will have a readout of what happened in Washington for the last few days to see where the parties want to go,” he said.
Meanwhile, State Department Deputy Spokesman Phil Reeker denied on Thursday that the US has submitted any “bridging proposals” during the negotiations in Washington.
“We did not make any decisions with respect to bridging proposals,” he said in a press briefing. “This depends, really, on whether we think there is going to be a chance to bridge gaps through such proposals,” he stressed.
The Israeli negotiating team, headed by acting Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, and top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, met with US Special Envoy Dennis Ross several times this week to clarify the principles of defining Israel's permanent borders.
According to diplomatic sources in Washington, Ross and his team met separately with the Israeli and Palestinian delegations in an attempt to gather more ideas and suggestions, which can be included in a US working paper.
Reeker criticized the legislation passed by Congress on Wednesday to cut financial support from the Palestinians if they unilaterally declared a state.
“I think it is very imperative that we seek to support the parties and do not take steps to hamper their efforts or place obstacles in their way… and legislation at this time complicates the very process that we seek to conclude and make it more difficult to reach a just and lasting peace,” he said.
Commenting on the provocative visit of Likud’s leader Ariel Sharon’s to Haram Al-Sharif on Thursday which led to clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police, Reeker cautioned that all sides need to respect the fact that this is a very sensitive holy site.
“Everyone needs to exercise careful judgment on actions that are taken there. So any action with respect to such a sensitive site needs to be carefully weighed in order to avoid tension,” he stressed.
In a related development, an American Jewish organization in New York blasted President Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Barak for what it called “their continued pressure” applied on the issue of concluding a Middle East peace agreement.
Americans for a Safe Israel (AFSI) asked in a statement about the need for such urgency: “"Why the duress? Why is there such an attitude of urgency and desperation surrounding these negotiations? Barak is working without a mandate from his people in making inordinate concessions to Arafat. President Clinton will not be around as chief executive to undo the damage done by his extraordinary efforts in pressuring the concerned parties.”
ASFI claimed that “in addition to the billions of dollars -- sometimes estimated at over 200 billion -- that agreements with Arafat, Barak, and Syria would cost the American taxpayer, the cost to the Israelis in terms of their legacy, their history, their homeland is immeasurable."
ASFI accused Clinton of tainting the issue of the Middle East by matters of political expediency. “President Clinton's efforts to aid the Gore campaign for US President, and the Hillary Clinton campaign for New York Senate should not be tied to the success or failure of negotiations between Barak and Arafat," it said.
ASFI strongly denounced the US proposal that the Haram Al-Sharif (Temple Mount) fall under the custodianship of the United Nations. AFSI called on its members to join the National Council of Young Israel, speaking for 150 Orthodox synagogues throughout North America, to denounce the US proposal and to reject out of hand the possibility of internationalization in Jerusalem. “It is only Prime Minister Barak who, in his desperation, would consider such a plan,” the statement said.
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