Looking ahead for the first time after months of
impasse, the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers on Thursday prepared for a
summit, possibly within days.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie
talks in front of a poster of Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock during a news
conference after the first cabinet meeting of the new Palestinian
government in the West Bank city of Ramallah Nov. 13, 2003.
[Reuters]
Despite conciliatory statements, however,expectations are low that the
U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan can be revived. Neither side appears closer to
making concessions — a crackdown on militant groups by the Palestinians, a
removal of dozens of settlement outposts by Israel.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia convened his Cabinet for the first
time Thursday, a day after it was sworn in following two months of political
wrangling.
With a government finally in place, Qureia can focus on his priorities. He
first wants to persuade militant groups to halt attacks on Israelis and then get
Israel to agree to a truce, including a stop to military strikes in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip.
In the past, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has refused to halt such
operations, including targeted killings of militants, unless the Palestinian
security forces begin dismantling armed groups, something the Palestinians
refuse to do.
Israel's position appears to have softened somewhat in recent days, and
officials have said they want to give Qureia a chance.
In preparing for a summit, the Palestinians say they want to avoid the
mistakes of their first premier, Mahmoud Abbas. He met four times with Sharon
but failed to win concessions, including easing Israel's travel ban in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip.
That failure, along with turf battles with Yasser Arafat, led to Abbas'
resignation Sept. 6, after just four months in office.
Members of the Palestinian Cabinet attend
their first official meeting headed by Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, at
head of table, in the West Bank town of Ramallah Thursday Nov. 13, 2003.
Cabinet members are unidentified. [AP]
Qureia said Thursday he would meet Sharon only if he gets assurances that the
travel bans would be eased significantly. A network of Israeli barriers, meant
to keep away militants, has crippled the Palestinian economy. Even the Israeli
army chief has said the closures are counterproductive, breeding hatred and more
terrorism.
"If Israel respects our people and our president (Arafat) and lifts the siege
and closure, I think the road will be open for this government to be
successful," Qureia said after the Cabinet meeting.
In a telephone call Thursday evening, U.S. Secretary of State Colin
Powell told Qureia that Israeli-Palestinian meetings were important for
progress on the "road map," Palestinian officials said.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Powell told Qureia
the new Palestinian government must declare its firm opposition to terrorism,
and "performance is what counts."
Israel and the United States, which want to sideline Arafat, have expressed
concern that the Palestinian leader remains in control of security forces in
Qureia's new government. However, Israelis now seem more accommodating toward
Qureia, widely known as Abu Ala, than they were when he was first nominated.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said a Sharon-Qureia summit meeting
could take place in 10 days, after Sharon's trip to Italy at the beginning of
next week.
Shalom said he has already drawn up a "positive agenda" for the talks "to
ease the pressure on the Palestinians and the Israelis and to create the base
through which we will be able to enter real negotiations." He did not elaborate.
Until recently, Israel had insisted its leaders would not deal with the
Qureia government until it takes steps against violent groups like Hamas and
Islamic Jihad. Sharon dropped the precondition two weeks ago.
Qureia, meanwhile, disclosed that an international donors conference
scheduled in Rome next Tuesday has been postponed until Dec. 12, apparently
because of the delays in forming a government.
The international community sends about $1 billion a year to the
Palestinians. The funds are used for humanitarian projects and help prop up the
Palestinian Authority, which would otherwise cease to function.
The Palestinian finance minister, Salam Fayad, had stayed home for several
days in protest over the deadlock between Qureia and Arafat. Fayad will be the
key figure at the conference, presenting the Palestinian budget for 2004.
In another development, the Israeli military on Thursday expelled another
Palestinian from the West Bank to Gaza.
Taha Dweik, according to the military an explosives expert in the Islamic
Jihad group, was sent from the city of Hebron to Gaza after Israel's Supreme
Court upheld the expulsion order.
Altogether, 18 expulsion orders were issued, and the first one was carried
out last week. Another Palestinian, Moshref Bethor, was expelled to Gaza early
Thursday, but Israel said he was not part of the 18; rather, he had agreed to go
to Gaza instead of serving time in prison. However, Bethor denied that.
The Israeli military said the expulsions are meant to prevent further terror
attacks. Human rights groups have denounced the practice.
