Military

DATE=10/22/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (L) UPDATE

NUMBER=2-268284

BYLINE=JENNY BADNER

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

/// DROPS PHRASE FROM TEXT GRAF 10 OF CR 2-268283. ///

INTRO: Israel's prime minister is calling for a break in the peace process to re-evaluate diplomatic efforts after weeks of violence. From Jerusalem, Jenny Badner reports the prime minister's remarks came as Arab leaders wrapped up a summit in Cairo.

TEXT: Israel's prime minister, Ehud Barak, told his cabinet that he would declare a - time out - in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Mr. Barak said Israel would still pursue peace. But in a statement released after the Cabinet meeting, he said Israel will reassess the diplomatic process after more than three-weeks of violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip

Some Israeli Cabinet ministers are opposed to the break, saying such a move will lead nowhere and will damage Israel's international standing.

/// OPT /// Israel radio reported that Mr. Barak did not bring the call for a time out to the Cabinet for approval. He is still trying to form a national unity government with the opposition Likud party's Ariel Sharon.

It was Mr. Sharon's visit to Jerusalem's Temple Mount, known to Arabs as Haram al Sharif, that sparked the beginning of the clashes late last month. /// END OPT ///

The move comes as Arab leaders wrapped up their emergency summit in Cairo to confront the latest Israeli-Palestinian violence.

In a statement, Mr. Barak praised Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for his summit effort - to maintain a balanced approach, which calls for peace and restraint.

But Mr. Barak stressed that - Israel rejects the language of threats and condemns the call for continued violence that he says is called for in the summit's closing statements.

/// OPT /// The Arab leaders declared that they may consider cutting ties with Israel. They also pledged 200-million dollars for the families of Palestinians killed or wounded in the uprising. /// END OPT ///

Some Palestinian leaders have implied that it did not go far enough to take action against Israel.

In a show of protest, Tunisia broke off its low-level diplomatic ties with Israel. Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab nations that have signed peace treaties and have full diplomatic relations with Israel.

Meanwhile, fresh violence broke out in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. At least one Palestinian was killed in clashes near the West Bank town of Hebron.

More than 115-people, almost all of them Palestinian, have been killed since the clashes began nearly one-month ago. (SIGNED)

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