Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg, who is running for the Chairmanship of the Labor Party, met with the Council of Europe\'s subcommittee for Middle East affairs, and said the following: \"There can be no solution in which Israel and the Jewish people are excluded from the Old City and the Temple Mount.\" On the other hand, he accused senior Palestinian Authority officials of giving a green light for murderous terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens. Burg emphasized that Israel views with utmost severity the active participation of PA security elements in these attacks.
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, also meeting yesterday with the Council of Europe delegation, laid down four principles for progress on the Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic track:
* The violence must end;
* There must be a change in rhetoric, i.e., language of peace rather than that of confrontation must be used;
* There must be a return to the negotiating table;
* Israel must ease living conditions in the Palestinian-controlled territories.
Peres said that the four must be applied in a \"simultaneous, unconditional, and uniform manner.\"
Mr. Peres stated that if the Arab initiative to dispatch UN observers to the territories is implemented, it would constitute a unilateral action against Israel. He asked rhetorically if the Palestinians wish the observers in order to see who sends the gun squads that carry out the drive-by shootings, or to expose the weapons caches used by those who carry out the terrorist attacks? Peres called upon Arafat to \"take action\" against members of his personal Force 17 elite unit who participate in terrorist attacks.
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, also meeting yesterday with the Council of Europe delegation, laid down four principles for progress on the Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic track:
* The violence must end;
* There must be a change in rhetoric, i.e., language of peace rather than that of confrontation must be used;
* There must be a return to the negotiating table;
* Israel must ease living conditions in the Palestinian-controlled territories.
Peres said that the four must be applied in a \"simultaneous, unconditional, and uniform manner.\"
Mr. Peres stated that if the Arab initiative to dispatch UN observers to the territories is implemented, it would constitute a unilateral action against Israel. He asked rhetorically if the Palestinians wish the observers in order to see who sends the gun squads that carry out the drive-by shootings, or to expose the weapons caches used by those who carry out the terrorist attacks? Peres called upon Arafat to \"take action\" against members of his personal Force 17 elite unit who participate in terrorist attacks.