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Change Your Life! |
Clinton to meet with Barak |
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June 2, 2000 "All the balls are up in the air," he says.
On the eve of Thursday's meeting, a Palestinian official said Israel has offered to withdraw from more than 90 percent of the West Bank as part of a peace treaty. But an Israeli official said the treaty would not resolve one of the most contentious issues - the status of Jerusalem.
That will take more time, said Jerusalem Affairs Minister Haim Ramon. In the meantime, he said, traditionally Arab east Jerusalem would remain under total Israeli sovereignty.
Standing at a lookout that was the site of 1948 battles over Jerusalem, Barak declared, "The state of Israel and Jerusalem are one."
"We will see in the coming months if there is a real desire on the other side to make an agreement and end the conflict," he said. Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat are trying to agree on the framework for a peace agreement by September.
The Israeli pullout from southern Lebanon was a daring move that heightened both anxieties and expectations, Clinton told a news conference after a meeting with European Union leaders.
"It has changed the landscape ... because things are up in the air again," Clinton said. "It also imposes a much greater sense of urgency. ... I think the consequences of inaction are now likely to be more difficult because of this move."
Clinton invited Barak to his hotel suite before heading to Germany for the next leg of the president's weeklong European tour. They had planned to meet later Thursday in Berlin. But, due to a scheduling conflict, the Israeli leader decided to come here instead and to skip the Germany visit.
"It's not like there's some bombshell out there," Clinton said ahead of Thursday's session. "We just really needed to have a face-to-face meeting and we needed to do it in this timeframe."
Barak and Clinton were to meet last week in Washington. But the crisis kept Barak at home.
Thursday's session "will make up for the meeting that we were supposed to have," said White House spokesman Joe Lockhart. He said a real breakthrough seemed unlikely. "This is more of an attempt to make sure that we're doing everything we can to keep this moving in the right direction."
Clinton also called Arafat from Lisbon on Wednesday and they talked for about 20 minutes, Lockhart said. As a result of the Israeli withdrawal, Palestinians living in Lebanon are understandably anxious, Clinton told reporters. "Does this mean that there is going to be a peace and, therefore, they will be able to have a better life ... or does this mean that this is it and there is sort of a new freezing of the situation? So there is anxiety in the community," he said.
Among the options being mentioned: A top-level, three-way meeting in the United States akin to the Camp David sessions that resulted in peace between Israel and Egypt in the 1970s.
But, Lockhart said, "Who knows as we go down the road what will serve as an appropriate vehicle for coming to a final agreement?" Separately, the president thanked the European Union for leading efforts to gain Israel's acceptance in its U.N. regional group and the opportunity to be represented on key U.N. committees, marking a turning point in Israel's stormy relationship with the United Nations.
"This is a very good development, and I think it will contribute to the negotiating atmosphere that is so important at this difficult and pivotal time in the Middle East," Clinton said.
In his Wednesday meeting with European Union leaders, Clinton also said he sought to ease skepticism among allies over a proposed U.S. nuclear missile shield by promising to share the technology with all "civilized nations."
If the technology is available, Clinton said in advance of his first direct talks this weekend with Russian President Vladimir Putin, "it would be unethical," for the United States to do therwise.
Russia has opposed putting such a system in place, or modifying the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty to allow it. Clinton is to make a decision before leaving office on whether to go ahead with such a plan. The leaders also discussed various trade disputes between the United States and Europe, but reported no breakthroughs.
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