Israel's caretaker prime minister, Ehud Barak, promised Saturday to work toward a compromise on the problem of Palestinians who fled or were driven from their homes when Israel was created in 1948 if he is re-elected, said press reports.
In an interview broadcast on satellite television in Abu Dhabi, Barak said "the right of return of the 1948 refugees is not acceptable to Israelis. But, if I am elected, I will try to reach a compromise solution with the Palestinians."
Barak is not expected to be re-elected in Tuesday's vote for prime minister, with hard-line right-wing candidate, Ariel Sharon, ahead by around 20 percentage points in opinion polls.
The fate of the refugees, estimated to number around 3.7 million, and the future of Israel-occupied east Jerusalem have been the two most intractable issues preventing Israel and the Palestinians from reaching a peace accord.
"I do not believe that Israel can ever permit the return of the Palestinians. There are red lines," Barak was quoted by AFP as saying.
Separately, Barak issued a plea to Arab Israelis to vote for him.
That community, which represents about 13 percent of the electorate, backed him massively in 1999, helping propel him to a landslide victory over right-wing premier Benjamin Netanyahu.
This time round, however, Barak has been faced with a call from that quarter to boycott the election altogether, as he has been blamed for what they see as the violent repression of the Palestinian uprising that broke out in September.
He is also blamed for the deaths of 13 Arab Israelis, killed by Israeli police during October demonstrations in support of the Palestinians.
In light of the flaring violence, Barak's only chance of winning now rests with the undecided voters or those Labor supporters who had waited in vain for Barak to quit the race in favor of party colleague, Shimon Peres, who has consistently rated better in the opinion polls against Sharon, said Haaretz newspaper.
The premier got backing Saturday night from Israel's Peace Now movement, which brought together some 3,000 people to march through Jerusalem calling on people to support him.
Placards saying "Peace, yes! Sharon, no!" were mixed with others saying "useless wars will never be forgiven."
The latter were apparently a reference to the fact that Sharon was the architect of Israel's disastrous invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
In the Palestinian lands, the Israeli army has decided to flood West Bank roads with military vehicles in attempt to counter the recent wave of drive-by shootings on them, a senior military officers told the Israeli paper.
During peak traffic hours, as many military vehicles as possible will be sent out on patrol, including vehicles that are not bulletproof, the source said.
"Now, in light of the large number of recent vehicle shooting incidents and the growing anger among the settlers, it has decided to set an even higher profile in hopes that a massive, visible IDF presence will deter terrorists."
In addition to the beefed-up presence on West Bank roads, the paper said that Barak approved several additional measures proposed by the army on Friday. These include reinstating military roadblocks around the Palestinian cities, except Qalqilyah and Jericho, blocking off new roads opened by the Palestinians in areas under Israeli security control and restricting Palestinians' movements in areas where there have been serious "terror attacks."
The paper, meanwhile, reported that Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian trying to infiltrate into Israel overnight Saturday near the Kissufim crossing in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
Earlier, Israeli soldiers prevented two Palestinians from placing a bomb on the road between the Karni crossing into Gaza and the Jewish settlement of Netzarim, added the paper.
The two men fled after the soldiers opened fire on them, said Haaretz, adding that the bomb was detonated by sappers.
In the West Bank, the Jerusalem Post newspaper reported that Palestinian gunmen Sunday morning opened fire on an Israeli vehicle travelling near the Jewish settlement of Bet El, but there were no injuries.
On Saturday, Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian youth in the Gaza Strip, while another had died of injuries he sustained during clashes with Israeli troops in the same area -- Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
