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October 27, 2000/28 Tammuz 5760, Vol. 53, No.5
Barak tries to cobble unity government
GIL SEDAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM - Israel's major political parties were talking about forming an emergency unity government this week as violence continued in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak asked the Likud Party to join him in a unity government, but met initial resistance. Knesset Member Limor Livnat said the offer was not "serious."
Meanwhile the leader of the fervently Orthodox Shas Party, Eli Yishai, said his party would not join a unity government, but would consider joining "an emergency Cabinet for a limited time."
Barak was also facing strong criticism within his own party's ranks for his statement over the weekend that Israel was taking a "timeout" from the peace process.
Former Prime Minister Shimon Peres told the Voice of Israel on Oct. 23 that Israel cannot ignore the Oslo and Camp David agreements and could not detach itself from the peace process.
"When there is shooting, one must return the fire," said Peres, "but one must continue the peace process."
Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat responded to Barak's call for a "timeout" in peace talks by saying that anyone blocking the Palestinians' path to a state can "go to hell."
Israel tightened its closure of population centers in the West Bank. Palestinians threatened to break the blockade on Oct. 24 by staging massive demonstrations to confront the soldiers.
The official Palestinian publication Al-Hayat al-Jadida published detailed instructions on how to stage demonstrations to break closures, particularly in the Jerusalem area. Meanwhile, gunfire was heated on the evening of Oct. 22. Israeli gunships caused power outages when they rocketed the Palestinian village of Beit Jalla, the area from which Palestinians fired their machine guns into the nearby southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo.
Palestinians continued attacks against Israeli targets, both army and settlers, throughout the territories.
Palestinians fired shots at an Israel Defense Force checkpoint near the Jewish community in Hebron, lightly wounding one soldier, Israel Army Radio reported. There were also reports of shots being fired at Israeli forces on the evening of Oct. 23 at Mount Eval, the area where a bus carrying settlers was attacked last week.
"The situation is really deteriorating. The worst hasn't happened yet," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters.
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