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Israeli and PA negotiation teams meeting ahead of last month's Annapolis summit (AP) del.icio.us Digg It!  new Last update - 07:42 13/12/2007 Israel-PA talks resume under shadow of Camp David lessons By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Camp David  Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, led by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and PA negotiator Ahmed Qureia, were renewed Wednesday in a very tense atmosphere. The talks were renewed after a seven-year hiatus following the failure of Camp David, the Taba talks and the fall of the government headed by then prime minister Ehud Barak. Advertisement A document delineating the details of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians from 1999 to 2001 was given to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Livni and their advisors to study in preparation for the Middle East peace summit held in Annapolis, Maryland last month. Many of its details, particularly the concessions to which Israel had agreed, were known to very few people involved in the talks in Israel, the PA and the U.S. administration. The document heavily impacted the concepts the parties used in formulating their joint statement prior to the Annapolis summit, emphasizing that they would conduct negotiations to reach a "peace agreement." The document's section on lessons learned from the 1999-2001 talks stated that Barak's negotiations with the Syrians had led to a delay on the Palestinian track, which resulted in a serious crisis of confidence between the parties and spurred the Palestinians to significantly harden their line. The document also reveals a "unilateral separation" plan formulated under Barak's direction. The plan stated that, lacking an agreement, Israel would initiate a gradual separation over a number of years with willingness to renew talks at any time. The document also revealed the parties' agreements and disagreements on the core issues: Palestinian flexibility on refugees; Israeli agreement to accept refugees on a humanitarian basis; Palestinian refusal to Israel's core security demands, and partial Palestinian agreement to recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people.. Overtures to Syria caused crisis with PA in previous round Efforts to move ahead with diplomatic efforts vis-a-vis the Syrians at the expense of negotiations with the Palestinians led to a "serious crisis of confidence between the parties" as well as a hardening of their line in negotiations. This was revealed by the summarizing document on the negotiations that newly elected prime minister Ariel Sharon received from outgoing prime minister Barak. The summary also stated that Israel could not have managed two negotiating tracks with the Syrians and the Palestinians at the same time. In January 2000, Barak began conducting talks in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk a-Shara, with president Bill Clinton and secretary of state Madeleine Albright serving as mediators. They reached a dead end after a week of talks. The reason for the failure was disagreement over the location of the border at Lake Kinneret: Syria demanded that Israel return to the border of June 4, 1967, which would have given it rights to the Kinneret water. Barak, currently serving as defense minister, said recently in a number of forums that Israel must work to renew negotiations on the Syrian track - not at the expense of the Annapolis process, but rather parallel to it. Related articles: Document reveals details of Camp David summit Gov't to Clinton in 2000: Special authority for J'lem's 'holy basin' Annapolis joint statement was completed with just minutes to spare Quartet envoy Blair reveals plans to strengthen PA institutions Bookmark to del.icio.us Bored with Israel A study shows U.S. Jews don't feel it's important to care about the Holy Land. League of their own The PA's first unit of policewomen direct traffic in the West Bank.   1.   Camp David lessons? 05:26  |  Frank 13/12/07   2.   The Arabs must make very painful concessions for real peace! 06:34  |  Uzi 13/12/07   3.   There can never be separate Arab polity west of the Jordan! 06:36  |  Uzi 13/12/07   4.   Equitable and practicable Partition Plan that may work: 06:38  |  Uzi 13/12/07   5.   Frank - you are right! 07:20  |  Fred Omran 13/12/07   6.   #1 Terror State exists - Israel 07:39  |  Galalean 13/12/07   7.   The lesson from Camp David 08:21  |  KUTW 13/12/07   8.   As suspected: all concessions made by Israel 09:15  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 13/12/07   9.   Frank, Uzi, Fred 09:38  |  Marcus Aurelius 13/12/07   10.   more of the comedy revisited and einstein proven right 10:47  |  victor hardman 13/12/07   11.   who is in power ? 11:25  |  gabriela 13/12/07   12.   who is camp david 13:26  |  SJ 13/12/07   13.   Piece conference 13:55  |  Mark Lincoln 13/12/07   14.   A crying shame 13:58  |  Mark Lincoln 13/12/07

Today Online Document reveals progress on core issues at Camp David Responses: 72 Rosner: U.S. report on Iran should have been tossed, not published Responses: 33 Municipality lawyer: J'lem Arab students discriminated against Responses: 9 Avineri: U.S. only effective on Mideast conflict in war or talks Responses: 13 Itching powder delivered to MKs sparks Knesset probe Responses: 5 Rosner's Domain Who believes in intelligence reports? American Jews are losing interest in Israel Guest: redivision of Jerusalem will lead to terrible bloodshed 3 'close' Orthodox for every 'close' Reform (What To Read) More Headlines 10:30 Document shows progress on core issues at Camp David summit 12:38 Report: N. Korea gave Hezbollah aid when IDF quit Lebanon in 2000 13:27 Tony Blair: Israel, PA in sync on repairing Palestinian economy 13:30 U.S. senator to call for new Iran report using same intelligence as NIE 08:57 Municipality lawyer: J'lem Arab students discriminated against 07:42 Israel-PA talks resume under shadow of Camp David lessons 13:07 Police question Druze MK for second time on visit to Syria 05:23 Gov't to Clinton in 2000: Special authority for J'lem's 'holy basin' 11:47 Teachers, gov't officials reach deal, students go back to school 11:07 Ministry orders probe into deaths of seven mental institution patients Previous Editions Select Day 12 dec 11 dec 10 dec 09 dec 07 dec 06 dec 05 dec 04 dec 03 dec 02 dec 30 nov 29 nov

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