Israel considers talks proposal as Clinton steps aside

Palestinians await word from Barak, ready for Bush

In this story: Clinton vows strong military support to Israel Arafat ready to work with Bush RELATED STORIES, SITES

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak planned to convene his inner cabinet on Saturday to consider Palestinian proposals for a new round of talks as the man who devoted much of his eight years as U.S. president pushing for peace prepared to step down.

The proposals on the table came from Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat during a meeting earlier this week with Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami. They call for 10 days of marathon talks, to begin as early as Sunday at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Taba.

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Barak postponed a planned meeting on the proposals on Friday to avoid conflict with the funeral of a teen-aged Israeli boy whose bullet-riddled body was found near the West Bank town of Ramallah on Thursday. The boy had apparently been killed after traveling to the West Bank to meet a Palestinian girl he had been corresponding with on the Internet.

Israel condemned the killing and vowed to find the killers, while Palestinian authorities said they believed the murder had criminal rather than political motives.

Sources said Barak was not opposed to Arafat's proposed marathon talks, but doubted any agreement could be reached before February 6, when he goes head-to-head at the Israeli ballot box with hard-line Likud party leader Ariel Sharon.

Polls give Sharon a commanding lead in the election -- meaning that Arafat could face a whole new set of players in the search for Mideast peace within weeks.

Clinton vows strong military support to Israel

With the inauguration of George W. Bush as president at noon on Saturday, U.S. President Bill Clinton's efforts to bring 52 years of Israeli-Palestinian conflict to an close also end.

In open letters to the Israelis and Palestinians published in the Middle East on Friday, Clinton urged them not to "draw the wrong lessons" from the recent round of violence.

"The violence does not demonstrate that the quest for peace has gone too far -- but that it has not gone far enough. And it points not to the failure of negotiations -- but to the futility of violence and force," Clinton wrote, one day before leaving office.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society says that 341 of the nearly 400 people who have been killed since the violence began on September 28 were Palestinians. The Israel Defense Forces report that 45 of the dead were Israeli Jews and 13 more Israeli Arabs.

In his letter, Clinton pledged continued strong U.S. military and diplomatic support to the Israelis, including offering Israel first option at purchasing the new U.S. advanced fighter jet, the F-22.

"I have expanded our special strategic relationship and helped protect and enhance your security," Clinton wrote. "As part of that continuing effort, I am recommending that when our most advanced fighter aircraft, the F-22, becomes available for sale, Israel, if it so chooses, will be among the first, if not the first, foreign customer."

Arafat ready to work with Bush

Turning to the Palestinians, Clinton said that "now, more than ever, is the time for courageous leadership."

"Palestinians must recognize," he wrote, that "courage is not only ... measured in struggle. It is measured in the ability to seize historic opportunities."

He also advised Palestinians to avoid outside pressures to halt negotiations.

"There will always be those sitting comfortably on the outside urging you to hold out for the impossible more. But they are not the one whose refugees will continue to languish in crowded camps. You are. They are not the ones whose children will grow up in poverty. You are. They are not the ones who will pay the price of missing a historic opportunity."

Arafat bid farewell to Clinton in an address televised on Palestinian television, thanking the outgoing president for "his tireless and continuous efforts to reach a just and lasting genuine peace."

"Unfortunately ... we could not reach a peace settlement during the presidency of President Clinton," Arafat said, "but we will continue making every effort possible to reach a peace agreement, a comprehensive peace agreement with the help of President George Bush."

CNN Correspondents Jerrold Kessel and Matthew Chance, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Clinton addresses open letters to Israelis, Palestinians
January 20, 2001
New U.S. administration will 'wait and see' on Mideast
January 18, 2001
Settlers' attacks the backdrop to Israeli, Palestinian meeting
January 16, 2001
Mideast peace talks resume
January 16, 2001
Killing prompts Israel to cancel meeting
January 15, 2001
Hopes fade for Mideast agreement before Clinton leaves White House
January 14, 2001
Israeli, Palestinian negotiators meet in Gaza
January 13, 2001
Fierce clashes erupt as Israeli-Palestinian talks renew
January 12, 2001

Israeli Prime Minister's Office
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Palestinian National Authority
Palestine Red Crescent Society

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