Arab League stops short of call to end ties with Israel

Arab leaders end their two-day summit after signing a final declaration, which denounced Israel

In this story: Stronger words Saturday Barak calls 'timeout' RELATED STORIES, SITES

CNN Cairo Bureau Chief Ben Wedeman and CNN Correspondent Jerrold Kessel contributed to this report.

CAIRO, Egypt (CNN) -- A two-day Arab League emergency summit ended Sunday with leaders issuing a final declaration that said Arab nations could consider cutting ties with Israel as punishment for Israeli-Palestinian clashes.

Israel and the Palestinian Authority blame each other for fighting in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank that has killed close to 120 people -- all but a handful of them Palestinians or Israeli Arabs -- during the past three weeks.

VIDEO CNN's Brent Sadler reports on the outcome of the summit in Cairo (October 22) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Rula Amin reports that Israeli-Palestinian clashes have claimed the life of a Palestinian boy (October 22) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's David Ensor reports leaders on both sides trust U.S. intelligence officials more than they trust diplomats (October 20) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     AUDIO Dan Meridor, Chairman of the Israeli Knesset's Defense and Foreign Affairs committee, says the Palestinians prefer war over peace 298K/13 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Marwan Barghouti, a leader of Arafat's Fatah movement, says Israel should withdraw from the occupied territories 176K/9 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies comments on the effects of the Arab summit 378K/18 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     MESSAGE BOARD Mideast peace     RESOURCES Mideast struggle for peace     ALSO Libyans walk out of Arab League summit

The Arab communique denounced Israel for the fighting, offered funds to the Palestinians and called for a United Nations-led "international war crimes tribunal" to investigate actions committed by Israeli soldiers during the clashes. It also requested a U.N. presence in Gaza and the West Bank to prevent future Israeli-Palestinian clashes.

In addition, the Arab leaders also agreed to end all steps toward normalization of relations with Israel, stopping just short of calling for the cutting of all existing ties.

Israeli government spokesman Nachman Shai said the communique, because it stopped short of calling for an end to all ties with Israel, "is a victory of wisdom for the Arab world."

"If there's no cutting of diplomatic relations between Israel-Jordan and Israel-Egypt, this is a relief in a way," Shai told CNN. "And also I think what's missing there is a call for an end of violence in the region."

Palestinian Council Member Hanan Ashrawi told CNN the Arab summit final declaration was "extremely diluted, watered down, as may have been euphemistically described as being moderate and rational."

She accused summit leaders of responding to influence from the United States and said many Palestinians would be disappointed, including Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat .

"Many (Palestinians) said, 'Well we didn't expect any better because the Arab leaders had cast their lot with the U.S. and were taking their orders from the U.S. directly rather than responding to their own people who were crying out for some kind of justice, for some kind of political will and for some kind of strategy that would be translated into a plan of action on the ground.'"

Stronger words Saturday

The communique followed much stronger individual statements Saturday from nations such as Iraq, which called for a jihad -- or holy war -- against Israel.

The Libyan delegation walked out of the summit Saturday, complaining that leaders were refusing to call outright for Arab nations to cut ties with Israel.

Arafat on Saturday accused Israel of "massacring Palestinians."

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak accused Israel of adopting a belligerent attitude, which, in his words, threatens the very essence of peace. Israel expressed disappointment in Mubarak's peace-making efforts.

"I expect Arab leaders, especially President Mubarak ... to call for the Palestinians to cease their hostilities and to return to negotiations with Israel. That was very important. Unfortunately, it was not mentioned there," Shai said.

Hostilities continued even as the summit ended Sunday. Israeli-Palestinian clashes reported in Gaza left at least four Palestinians dead, including a 14-year-old Palestinian boy.

Barak calls 'timeout'

Shai said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak told his Cabinet earlier Sunday that Israel would take a "timeout" and reassess its position, while continuing with the Palestinian peace process.

"The 'timeout' means that we are going to reassess our position of where things stand right now," Shai said. "It doesn't mean we are going to withdraw our support for the peace process, just the opposite."

Arab leaders divided on response to Israel; emergency summit to reconvene today
October 22, 2000
Israel considers 'timeout' as Mideast clashes intensify
October 20, 2000
Israelis, Palestinians trade charges at U.N. session
October 18, 2000
Mideast violence continues, cease-fire denounced
October 18, 2000
Clashes in West Bank, Gaza blaze on despite agreement
October 17, 2000

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