Israel has been holding talks on at least three levels with Palestinian Authority representatives over the past few days. These include Foreign Minister Shimon Peres\' contacts, security cooperation meetings, and indirect talks on the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative. The Sharon government has often repeated its promise, dating back to the election campaign, not to conduct \"diplomatic\" negotiations under fire.
Arutz-7\'s Ariel Kahane reports that Peres\' discussions involve an initiative to allow the re-opening of the Palestinian Authority\'s casino in Jericho. The PA is reportedly promising that it would keep the Jericho area \"quiet and safe for Israeli travel\" - although Peres said clearly that because Israel has no interest in punishing the Palestinian population, it might open the casino without any pre-conditions. In Peres\' words, \"They [in the PA] have invested some $700,000 worth of tourism facilities there, and it has all been shut down [because of the war]. People there have almost nothing to eat! And what Saeb [Erekat] and others told me is that they can ensure the security in the [Jericho] area, and that there will be no shooting onto the bypass road, and that we should allow them to return to normal lives…\" The Palestinians have renovated the casino building over the past two months; it was heavily damaged by Israeli fire in retaliation for terrorist fire shot at Israeli forces from its roof during the first months of the current mini-war.
The government has not yet discussed the casino\'s opening, and security sources said that in any event, Israelis would not be allowed to enter. This, however, would defeat the purpose, from the Palestinian point of view.
Arutz-7\'s Ariel Kahane reports that Peres\' discussions involve an initiative to allow the re-opening of the Palestinian Authority\'s casino in Jericho. The PA is reportedly promising that it would keep the Jericho area \"quiet and safe for Israeli travel\" - although Peres said clearly that because Israel has no interest in punishing the Palestinian population, it might open the casino without any pre-conditions. In Peres\' words, \"They [in the PA] have invested some $700,000 worth of tourism facilities there, and it has all been shut down [because of the war]. People there have almost nothing to eat! And what Saeb [Erekat] and others told me is that they can ensure the security in the [Jericho] area, and that there will be no shooting onto the bypass road, and that we should allow them to return to normal lives…\" The Palestinians have renovated the casino building over the past two months; it was heavily damaged by Israeli fire in retaliation for terrorist fire shot at Israeli forces from its roof during the first months of the current mini-war.
The government has not yet discussed the casino\'s opening, and security sources said that in any event, Israelis would not be allowed to enter. This, however, would defeat the purpose, from the Palestinian point of view.