Word: baraker
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Israeli and Palestinian leaders don't want a war, but they can't exactly afford to sign a peace agreement, either. And it's in the sullen no-man's-land between the two options that Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat are once again tentatively reaching out to each other. But judging from the proposals being floated by the Palestinian Authority right now, the talks both men will hold with President Clinton in Washington later this weeks are more likely to be exploratory "talks about talks" than any kind of speedy resumption of the Oslo Accord-based peace process that...
...Agreeing to negotiate at all right now is difficult for the leaders on both sides. Barak's minority coalition now governs under the shadow of its constant vulnerability to being thrown out in a parliamentary no-confidence vote. And even if they're prepared to allow his government a period of grace amid the current turmoil, the violence of the past six weeks has reduced the Israeli public's confidence in the peace process to an all-time low. On the Palestinian side, overwhelming public skepticism toward the peace process has given way to increasingly open defiance of Arafat...
...Politically, though, the cease-fire doesn't make Barak's life more difficult than it already is, since he's already out on a limb. Edging out further is unlikely to make him any more vulnerable. Right now he's safe in power because he's bought off [the ultra-Orthdox] Shas party for a month, and after that he faces the choice of either buying them off again, or else reviving negotiations with Likud to form a unity government. They agreement they're offering is not that hard for Barak to swallow, but of course once they...
...Barak choose Shimon Peres, whose domestic political standing is considerably diminished, to broker a new deal with Arafat...
...Barak chose Peres because Peres has a relationship with Arafat, and because he has played a little role in the peace process under Barak, his relationship with the Palestinian leader hasn't been as strained by recent events as Barak's has. Peres was able to give Arafat a big dose of empathy, which he seldom gets from Israeli leaders. Peres told us today that he had tried to put himself in Arafat's shoes and understand the problem from his side." What does Peres see as the steps that will follow if the cease-fire holds...