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Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres meets with PA Chairman Yasser Arafat in Peres while Socialist International President and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres looks on. (AP)
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| By Ellis Shuman July 1, 2001 |
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Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres met with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat Friday night while the two participated in the congress of the Socialist International in Lisbon. No groundbreaking progress was made in the meeting, the first since the inception of Israel's national unity government.
Clashes, shooting incidents and mortar attacks over the weekend highlighted the differences between Israel and the Palestinians over whether a seven-day truce countdown negotiated on Thursday by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell had already begun.
During their two-and-a-half hour discussion, held at the
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"Give us security, and you'll get freedom"
- Shimon Peres to Yasser Arafat
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residence of Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Gutteres, Peres reiterated to Arafat the official Israeli position that there would be no movement on the Tenet cease-fire or the Mitchell plan before a cessation of violence, terror and incitement.
According to media reports, Arafat pressed Peres for an end to the closures in the territories. Arafat reportedly complained about sharp language used by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during his visit to America and also criticized "provocations" perpetrated by Jewish settlers.
The goodwill expressed between Peres and Arafat at their meeting was dispelled by Arafat's address to the Middle East panel of the Socialist International on Saturday. Arafat issued a series of harsh accusations against Israel, charging that Israel was destroying the Palestinian economy, attacking Palestinians with tanks, planes and assassination-bent helicopters and preferred settlements and occupation to peace.
In response to Arafat's attack, Peres declared that Israelis could not understand how the Palestinians had rejected the proposals offered by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Peres pressed Arafat by asking for "a week without ambulances, without sirens and mothers' tears. We're praying that the day will come when there aren't bombs at discos, schools or shopping malls, and [Israelis] can move about without fear of being killed or injured." Peres added, "Give us security, and you'll get freedom. We have no interest in conquering or controlling another people."
Labor Party Chairman Raanan Cohen, who also attended the Lisbon congress, said that Friday night's meeting between Peres and Arafat had been held in an "atmosphere of good will, forgiveness and atonement." After hearing Arafat's address on Saturday, Cohen said he was astounded at Arafat's "zigzag."
Right says meeting gives green light to continuation of attacks
Some of the right-wing members of the government expressed their anger at the Lisbon meeting between Peres and Arafat. "This is an extraordinary outrage," charged Tourism Minister Rechavam Ze'evi (National Union) in an interview with Israeli Channel 2 Television. "We seem to be conducting political negotiations in complete disregard to the declarations of the government and the Prime Minister."
A statement issued by the Yesha Council last night condemned the Peres-Arafat meeting as giving "a green light for the continuation of the attacks." The council demanded "an immediate end to the fake bloody cease-fire and that Arafat be treated as an enemy and not a partner."
This morning Ze'evi stormed out of a cabinet meeting after he failed in his attempts to place the Peres-Arafat meeting on the government's agenda. Prime Minister Sharon refused to discuss the issue.
According to Ha'aretz, the Prime Minister "worked the phones over the weekend, stressing to cabinet colleagues that his foreign minister did not overstep his government mandate by meeting with Arafat." Sources in the Likud told Ha'aretz that Sharon wanted to avoid a rift with the Labor Party and a cabinet crisis over the meeting.
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