Sharon government refuses the Egyptian - Jordanian initiative

The Israeli Hebrew- language radio on Wednesday quoted well-informed Israeli sources at the office of the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon as saying that Israel refuses the Egyptian- Jordanian initiative to resume negotiations with the Palestinians because it does not include a Palestinian commitment to halt acts of " violence and terrorism."

The sources added that the said initiative does not stipulate the resumption of negotiations to halting open- fire incidents in the Palestinian areas and also speaks of the need to implement the "Sharm el-Sheikh understandings" at a time when the Palestinian President does not implement these understandings.

The sources noted that the initiative which was proposed to the Israeli foreign minister Shemon Peres during his meeting with his Jordanian counterpart Abdul Illah al-Khatib only included surface changes on previous proposals proposed to Israel.

The Israeli daily Haartez said on Wednesday that the European Union and the UN submit an initiative to Israel to halt confrontations in the Palestinian areas originally based on the Jordanian- Palestinian initiative, especially the declaration of both the leaders of the Palestinian and Israeli sides, to halt violence. It also stated demanding the Palestinian authority arresting those " who are involved in terrorist acts against Israel " and ending provocation against Israel. "