Taba Summit
The Taba negotiations followed previous peace negotiation efforts, including the Oslo Accords (1993–1995) and the Camp David Summit (2000), which had failed to reach a final agreement and were considered more detailed in an attempt to make significant progress on several key issues, including borders, Palestinian refugees, Israeli settlements in occupied territories, and Jerusalem.
The parties had first negotiated at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, hosted by President Bill Clinton from 19 to 23 December 2000.
Summary of the paper: The two sides agreed that in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 242, the 4 June 1967 lines would be the basis for the borders between Israel and the Palestinian state.
The Palestinian side presented some illustrative maps detailing its understanding of Israeli interests in the West Bank.
The Israeli side stated that the Clinton proposals provide for annexation of Settlement blocs, areas which only had a small number of Palestinians.
Unlike the Palestinians, Israel did not consider East Jerusalem part of the West Bank and its Israeli inhabitants settlers.
[8] The Taba Summit officially ended with a joint statement,[9] which included some of the following points: The Israeli and Palestinian delegations conducted ... deep and practical talks with the aim of reaching a permanent and stable agreement between the two parties.
The sides declare that they have never been closer to reaching an agreement and it is thus our shared belief that the remaining gaps could be bridged with the resumption of negotiations following the Israeli elections.
The two sides take upon themselves to return to normalcy and to establish [a] security situation on the ground through the observation of their mutual commitments in the spirit of the Sharm e-Sheikh memorandum.
The negotiation teams discussed four main themes: refugees, security, borders and Jerusalem, with a goal to reach a permanent agreement that will bring an end to the conflict between them and provide peace to both people.
The Taba talks conclude an extensive phase in the Israeli–Palestinian permanent status negotiations with a sense of having succeeded in rebuilding trust between the sides.
The sides declare that they have never been closer to reaching an agreement and it is thus our shared belief that the remaining gaps could be bridged with the resumption of negotiations following the Israeli elections.
[13] Immediately after the elections and before the change of government, an 8 February 2001 statement published by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that: Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak clarified this evening that the ideas which were brought up in the course of the recent negotiations conducted with the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, including those raised at the Camp David Summit and by President Clinton towards the end of his term in office, are not binding on the new government to be formed in Israel.
In a letter to President George Bush, Prime Minister Barak stated that his government had done the utmost to bring about an end to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, but that these efforts did not bear fruit, primarily because of a lack of sufficient readiness for compromise on the part of the Palestinian leadership.
... Before sending the letter, Barak spoke with former President Clinton, and they were in agreement that the ideas raised in the past months are not binding on the new government in Israel.
[14]In June 2002, approximately 18 months after the conclusion of the Taba Summit, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat gave an interview to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, in which he stated that he had accepted the Middle East peace plan proposed by U.S. President Bill Clinton.
