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Israeli prime minister in Egypt for more talks

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Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, right, meets with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in Alexanderia, Thursday August 3, 2000. Barak discusses with Mubarak the stalled peace process in the Middle East.(AP PHOTO)

August 4, 2000 

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (AP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak arrived here Thursday for consultations with Egypt's president in an attempt to advance the peace efforts that are eroding his government bit by bit.

Barak's talks with key mediator President Hosni Mubarak in the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria, 220 kilometers (136.7 miles) north of Cairo, came a day after David Levy resigned as Israel's foreign minister and a parliament vote taking the nation a step closer to early elections.

The moves were responses to what many Israeli politicians say is Barak's willingness to compromise too much to secure a peace accord with the Palestinians. Barak, who has watched coalition partners flee, also scraped through a no-confidence vote this week.

Jerusalem, which Israel long has insisted remain united under Israeli sovereignty, has been the flashpoint. At last month's Camp David summit at the U.S. presidential retreat in Maryland, Barak reportedly offered the Palestinians control of certain Arab neighborhoods just inside Jerusalem.

His offers, rejected by the Palestinians, are no longer on the table. They were said to include a vaguely defined "special regime" in the Muslim and Christian quarters of Jerusalem's walled Old City, administrative autonomy over Jerusalem's Muslim holy places and unhindered access to Al-Aqsa mosque. Palestinian and other Arab world leaders insist on full Palestinian sovereignty over traditionally Arab east Jerusalem.

On Wednesday, Israel's parliament passed a preliminary reading of a bill to call early elections for both the prime minister and Parliament, achieving the 61 votes that constitute an absolute majority of the 120 members and that are required for future votes on the bill. Only 51 members voted against and six abstained.

Parliament, however, then adjourned for a three-month summer recess, which could give Barak the time he needs to pull together a new government and complete an accord with the Palestinians. Israel and the Palestinians have set a Sept. 13 deadline for an agreement, though past deadlines throughout the process often have been missed.