Prime Minister Ariel Sharon returned to Israel this afternoon. Immediately after landing at Ben Gurion Airport, Sharon convened the security cabinet to discuss his meetings in the US. He will brief coalition leaders tonight.
Sharon stressed that Israel is still demanding a 10-day trial period of total ceasefire, followed by a six-week cooling-off period, before starting to implement the Mitchell recommendations.
Sharon dismissed the possibility that the national unity government may be dismantled. He expressed confidence that the national unity government would remain in office until November 2003.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Shimon Peres today said he might meet Yasser Arafat in the next few days. The meeting may take place during the Socialist International Conference in Lisbon.
Peres made this statement following his meeting with US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Peres tried to project optimism in his post-meeting statement: “We’re committed to the Mitchell report in its entirety. It’s not an easy course of action, but we can make it. We expect the Palestinians to do the same. We shall soon reach a full ceasefire, and the peace train could set out for its first station.”
Peres reiterated his support for dismantling the 16 isolated outposts in the West Bank. "I think that leaving the outposts on the ground is a big mistake. It provokes the world against us,” he said.
Immediately after his meeting with Peres, Powell went to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. Before the meeting, the Palestinians said they were dissatisfied with Powell’s latest statement supporting Israel’s position, which calls for a total ceasefire prior to the implementation of the Mitchell recommendations.
The Palestinians are particularly angry over Powell’s statements that “the US cannot dictate to Israel and the Palestinians when to start the cooling-off period.” Powell added that he was encouraged by the decline in violence in the region, but that there was “still a long way to the resumption of the peace talks,” and that “it’s going to be very difficult”.
Senior sources in Israel’s security establishment said that in the past few days there was a Palestinian effort to reduce violence, but that it still was not a 100% effort.
The West Bank and Gaza Strip were relatively calm today, but dozens of Palestinian youngsters rioted and hurled rocks at IDF troops near the Jewish neighborhood in Hebron.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on 28 June 2001