Peace talks waffling amid Mideast leaders’ ambivalence

NEW YORK -- Despite a flurry of diplomatic activity, Israeli and Palestinian leaders are sounding increasingly downbeat about the prospects for peace.

This week, the two sides traded accusations, blaming each other for the lack of progress that has marked talks since the failure of July's Camp David summit.

"No movement in the Palestinian position is perceptible, and therefore it is not yet clear if there is a partner on the other side who is ready" to reach an agreement, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said in a Monday statement.

For his part, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat returned the criticism, blaming "Israeli intransigence" for the deadlock in the talks.

A day later, the delicacy of the situation was underscored when Israel called for an indefinite suspension of the talks with the Palestinians.

An anonymous senior Israeli official was quoted as saying that Barak had "decided on a temporary suspension because of a hardening in the Palestinian positions."

This prompted anger from Palestinian officials, who accused Israel of trying to unfairly blame them at a time when the sides were about to hold wide-ranging discussions.

Hours later, signaling he was not yet ready to quit the process altogether, Barak reversed course and said contacts with the Palestinians would resume Wednesday.

The developments came after U.S. officials concluded a week of high-level separate meetings with the two sides in New York and Washington.

The talks were aimed at putting into writing the ideas raised at the Camp David summit in July.

The intensified diplomatic activity is intended to determine if the gaps between both sides -- particularly over the future of Jerusalem -- can be bridged.

While other deadlines have passed, Israeli and U.S. officials seem increasingly convinced that, as Israel's acting foreign minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami, put it, "This is the last shot,"

The two sides have to reach agreement on a number of difficult issues, including final borders, refugees, Jewish settlements, security and Jerusalem.

The latest developments coincided with Newsweek's publication this week of what it said was almost the full text of a draft peace accord drawn up in secret talks five years ago by Yossi Beilin, now Israel's justice minister, and Palestinian official Abu Mazen.

Reportedly, many of the ideas emerging from the current talks are similar to those in the draft document. The ideas included: creation of a demilitarized Palestinian state on more than 90 percent of the West Bank; a 12-year Israeli military presence in the Jordan Valley; agreement in principle of Jerusalem as a shared capital of two states, with municipal arrangements made to enable the functioning of the city until a final arrangement is reached; a compensation package to Palestinian refugees.

At the time, Beilin advocated moving quickly toward a final settlement. The November 1995 draft agreement was to be presented to Arafat and then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Days later, Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing nationalist opposed to his peace policies.

Ben-Ami, however, downplayed the importance of the document, telling reporters it was now irrelevant.