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Barak offers state to Palestinians in peace accord |
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August 19, 2000
JERUSALEM (AP) - In Prime Minister Ehud Barak's clearest statement yet about Palestinian statehood, he offered the Palestinians an independent state if they formally end their conflict with Israel. The remarks Thursday came as U.S. State Department negotiator Dennis Ross began talks to see if the two sides were ready to move toward a peace accord. Ross was set to see Israel's figurehead president Friday. He is also expected to meet Barak and Palestinian officials, but not Arafat, who is abroad. This is the envoy's first trip to the region since a Barak-Arafat summit last month at the Camp David presidential retreat failed to produce an agreement. Most here assume that a peace accord would include a Palestinian state, and some of Barak's Cabinet ministers have said so in public. Up to now, Barak has preferred ambiguity on the matter. Speaking at a military college graduation ceremony, Barak left little room for doubt. "If the Palestinian leadership is prepared to confront the challenge of setting up a Palestinian state and solving the hardships of its people," he said, "it must understand that a condition for that is ending the conflict with Israel." At the same time, Barak warned the Palestinians not to declare a state unilaterally. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has said often that he has the right to make such a declaration after Sept. 13, a target date the two sides set for completing a peace treaty. Barak warned that a unilateral declaration would lead to Israeli countermeasures and violence. "This kind of deterioration would hurt, first and foremost, the Palestinians themselves," he said. He also said Israel could also suffer, as violence would strain its ties with Egypt, Jordan and other Arab states. The Palestinians want to set up a state in the West Bank and Gaza, with the traditionally Arab section of Jerusalem as its capital. Israel claims all of Jerusalem and wants to keep small parts of the West Bank where most Jewish settlers live. Barak did not mention Jerusalem or borders in his references to a Palestinian state, but noted the new state would need assistance from the United States and other industrialized countries. Therefore, he said, it was worthwhile to wait for an agreement with Israel. Barak did not detail retaliatory measures if Arafat moves unilaterally, but other Israeli officials talk about annexing parts of the West Bank, blocking entry of Palestinian workers and stopping trade, effectively choking the Palestinian economy. Israel and the Palestinians criticized a U.S. State Department advisory to Americans, warning of an increased possibility of terror attacks in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Concerned that the advisory might harm tourism, a main source of income, both said it was unjustified.
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