| http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=129794&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0
Friday, February 15, 2002 Adar 3, 5762 Israel Time:02:51 (GMT+2) Unofficial EU document shows Israel agreed to pre-'67 borders By Akiva Eldar Israel agreed at the Taba talks last year that the June 4, 1967 borders would be the basis for its border with the future Palestinian state, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 242. This agreement was recorded in a non-paper prepared by the European Union's special envoy to the Middle East, Miguel Moratinos. The introduction to the document notes that "although the paper has no official status, it has been acknowledged by the parties as being a relatively fair description of the outcome of the negotiations on the permanent status issues at Taba." The document reveals that though sizable gaps remained, major progress was made at Taba on every issue: borders; Jerusalem; refugees and security. The Taba talks began at the height of the intifada, a few weeks before Israel's prime ministerial election, in the face of surveys predicting a resounding defeat for then prime minister Ehud Barak. But Barak nevertheless sent the largest and most senior delegation in Israeli history to continue the negotiations, including then foreign minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, justice minister Yossi Beilin, transportation minister Amnon Lipkin-Shahak and Meretz Party Chairman Yossi Sarid. Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat also sent his most senior advisers to the talks. But some days later, Barak ordered them stopped. The Moratinos Document is based on Moratinos's records of the reports he received from both sides during the talks. He was the only foreign representative present and enjoyed the trust of both sides. When the talks ended, he sent the participants several drafts of his summary and last summer, both sides approved the final version, printed here for the first time. Though some of the participants complained of inaccuracies or careless phrasing, all agree that the general picture arising from the document is a fair reflection of the progress made at Taba and the gaps that still remain. The document details substantive negotiations over borders in the West Bank, and refutes charges that the Palestinians never presented a map of their own. Their map proposed Palestinian control of 96.9 percent of the West Bank (Israel proposed 94 percent), plus territorial exchanges to compensate for the remainder, which would be annexed to Israel. The parties essentially agreed Israel would evacuate Gaza. The parties agreed that Jerusalem would be an open city, whose eastern part would be called Al-Quds and would be the capital of Palestine. The Palestinians agreed that most of the Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem would remain under Israeli sovereignty, and both sides agreed to a division of the Old City. The document says "both sides were close to accepting Clinton's ideas regarding Palestinian sovereignty over Haram al-Sharif [Temple Mount]" and Israeli sovereignty over the Western Wall. Regarding the refugees, the parties agreed that a just resolution of the problem had to lead to implementation of UN General Assembly Resolution 194. There was no agreement on the number of refugees that would be allowed to enter Israel. |
