Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was under fire on two fronts yesterday after he reportedly made a major concession to Syria, and as Yasser Arafat, arriving in Washington, complained about Barak’s slow pace in the peace process.
Neither Barak’s office nor the White House would comment on a report in Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel’s largest daily, that Barak had agreed to negotiate a peace treaty with Syria based on retreating from the Golan Heights as far as the border of June, 4, 1967 – the eve of the Six-Day War.
Barak repeatedly has said since his election last May that he was willing to trade the Golan for ironclad security on the Syrian border – but had indicated he would not accept “the June 4 line,” which would bring Syria back to the Sea of Galilee.
Yedioth Ahronoth cited no sources in reporting that Barak “accepts in principle” the Syrian demand that the June 4 line would be the basis of negotiations, which were scheduled to resume in Washington.
The newspaper said Barak’s commitment was relayed by President Clinton to Syrian President Hafez al-Assad last October, and was a key reason for Assad’s decision to reopen talks with Israel after a three-year break.
Jewish settlers and other Barak critics condemned the prime minister’s “sellout” of the Golan.
Meanwhile, Arafat was in Washington for a luncheon with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, followed by a meeting with Clinton.
En route to the United States, the Palestinian president said he was not optimistic about reaching a final peace treaty with Israel, despite his latest meeting with Barak on Monday.
“We did not come out with a concrete result, only promises that have not been fulfilled,” Arafat said in Cairo.
Arafat said he would ask Clinton to help get Israel to meet an agreed September deadline for the treaty.