By
The Associated Press
JERUSALEM - Rolling back expectations of a final deal by next month, Prime Minister Ehud Barak said yesterday that he is prepared for a partial agreement with the Palestinians - a prospect the Palestinians said is out of the question.
Barak told the Israeli cabinet he does not rule out the possibility that "a comprehensive agreement will be achieved on most of the issues, while a time limit will be set for agreement on a very small part of them," his office said in a news release.
Palestinian parliament speaker Ahmed Qureia, also a senior peace negotiator, rejected the idea of another interim agreement. "There has to be agreement on every issue or there will be no agreement at all," he told reporters.
Until recently, Barak has said a full-fledged agreement would be the preferable outcome of intensive negotiations, and has given "50-50" chances to achieving a deal by next month.
In recent days, his Cabinet ministers have hinted they would accept a deal that delayed decisions on hot-button issues like Jerusalem. Barak's statement yesterday confirmed that approach.
The Camp David talks broke down over rival Palestinian and Israeli claims to east Jerusalem, in particular the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam and also the site of the Jewish temple, sacked in 70 A.D. by the Romans.
Barak told the cabinet he would never hand sovereignty over the area to the Palestinians or any Muslim body.
Qureia said a solution of the Jerusalem issue cannot be postponed. "There will be no peace and no agreement without Jerusalem," he said.
The issues of borders and the future of the Palestinian refugees also remain unsolved, although considerable progress has been achieved in those areas.
Israel media reported that Barak hopes to meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat soon to bridge some of the gaps. Qureia said such a meeting would be welcome "as long as it is not for public relations."
Acting Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami is to make a brief visit to Egypt and Jordan today, reportedly to enlist international support for a compromise in which sovereignty over the Temple Mount would be held by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.
The Palestinians have so far adamantly rejected that idea.
Should the Palestinians unilaterally declare an independent state, Israel would try to avoid an outbreak of conflict and instead continue to cooperate with the Palestinians, Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said yesterday.
Sneh's statement on this issue was more conciliatory than those of Israeli leaders until now. Barak has hinted that if the Palestinians declared a state without Israel's agreement, Israel may annex parts of the West Bank, an act that would probably lead to violence.
"We are not seeking confrontations," Sneh, a close Barak adviser, told Israel radio. "We are seeking ways to achieve an agreement, even in such a complex and confusing situation" as that which would follow a unilateral Palestinian declaration of independence.
The Palestinians said they would take such a step if the period of the interim agreement expired without a permanent peace agreement. However, they have already postponed the declaration twice and Arafat has stated that even if it is made the Palestinians will try to avoid conflict with Israel.
Sneh said Arafat's statement "reflects a favorable wind blowing from the Palestinian side." It showed that "they are headed for an agreement, not conflict," he said.
Israel's main concern would be to ensure the safety of the Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and other security interests, and to make sure that Israel's bargaining position would not be harmed in future negotiations over a permanent settlement, Sneh said.
