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Israeli officials criticize French president after failed summit |
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October 7, 2000
JERUSALEM, OCT 6 (AP) - French President Jacques Chirac persuaded Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat not to initial a cease-fire accord with Israel at the end of a summit in Paris, a senior Israeli official said Friday. Danny Yatom, Prime Minister Ehud Barak's top adviser, said Arafat intended to sign, but at the last minute Chirac persuaded him not to. Yatom, who took part in the Paris talks Wednesday told Israel radio that Chirac persuaded Arafat he cold get much more in exchange for his signature. At the Paris summit with Barak and Arafat, U.S .Secretary of State Madeleine Albright tried to broker an end to Palestinian-Israeli violence that has taken at least 68 lives over the past eight days. The plan was to initial an agreement in Paris and sign it the next day in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, but Arafat left Paris without initialing the accord. As a result, Barak did not go to Egypt, said Cabinet secretary Isaac Herzog. Interviewed on France-Info radio, Israeli negotiator Gilead Sher said that in their meeting, Chirac berated Barak "unilaterally and in a biased way." When Barak tried to explain Israel's side, he said, "Chirac just ignored (it)." Sher took part in the talks. Reports in Israeli news media said that Chirac advised Arafat to hold out for an international inquiry into the violence. Barak refused. An official at the Elysee Presidential Palace denied Sher's charges, saying that France worked alongside the United States all day to try to bring and end to the violence. The official spoke on condition of anonymity. Before the summit, Chirac harshly criticized Israel, charging that Barak was to blame for a visit last Thursday by hawkish opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the disputed hilltop in Jerusalem, holy sites holy to Muslims and Jews and claimed by both sides. Sharon's visit set off the riots. Herzog said it is unacceptable for a leader such as Chirac to make judgments "according to the number of casualties or according to what you see on television." Herzog told The Associated Press, "We are very critical of the French position." Barak sent messages to about 100 world leaders demanding that they pressure Arafat to stop the violence. A statement by Barak said he rejected Arafat's demand for an international inquiry into the violence, calling it an "alibi for him to evade the necessity" to make the decisions needed to "change the face of the Middle East," finishing a peace agreement with Israel. |