TEL AVIV, Israel — Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered the most detailed description yet of his peace plan, saying Thursday he would recognize an independent Palestinian state but would put off the explosive issue of control over Jerusalem.
Two months of violence has derailed peace talks, and Barak is now facing early elections, probably in the spring. The prime minister said he was prepared to work toward a political settlement as soon as the violence subsides, but his proposals did not appear to contain any new offers.
The Palestinians said they were not interested in partial solutions and showed no enthusiasm for Barak's proposals.
"We are looking for an Israeli political decision on whether they are ready for peace, or if they are still wasting time and looking for excuses," said Nabil Aburdeneh, an aide to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Barak said the looming election would not change his approach to peace negotiations, though many analysts say he's unlikely to win re-election unless he can negotiate some sort of peace deal before the ballot.
"I never said that I'm going to speed things up in working toward an agreement, as a result of the elections," Barak said in a speech to Israeli newspaper editors. "I also said we won't reach an agreement close to election time that would be different from one reached without elections."
Barak spoke of a "phased agreement" and said he was prepared to recognize a Palestinian state, but many of his other positions are at odds with Palestinian demands. He said the issue of sovereignty over Jerusalem and the return of Palestinian refugees should be put off for "one or two or three years."
The bloodshed, which has claimed more than 280 lives, most of them Palestinian, has abated in recent days. However, Palestinian areas remain tense.
Many of the details had emerged previously from Barak's aides, but Thursday's address in Tel Aviv was the most detailed description the prime minister himself has provided.
Barak is the first Israeli prime minister to publicly say he would recognize an independent Palestinian state. However, the Palestinian leadership, as well as ordinary Palestinians, have shot down his previous offers and say he will have to go much further before the two sides can reach agreement.
Peace negotiations broke down after violence erupted at the end of September, and Barak formally suspended the talks several weeks later.
In another development, Egypt was trying to arrange a Mideast summit next week between Barak and Arafat in an effort to end the hostilities and restart peace talks, the Israeli media reported Thursday.
Asked about the report, Arafat said, "this is the first time I heard about something like that."
Barak and Arafat have held only one face-to-face meeting since the violence began, and have spoken only rarely by telephone.
Israel, meanwhile, repeated its position that peace talks would not resume until the current violence ended or was at least dramatically reduced.
"We can't talk to each other when we're choking on anger or sorrow," Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, a Cabinet minister and a former army chief, said on army radio.
The bloodshed, which has claimed more than 280 lives, most of them Palestinian, has abated in recent days. However, Palestinian areas remain tense, and previous lulls have been followed by renewed spasms of violence.
A 17-year-old Palestinian was shot dead and three Palestinians were injured in a clash Thursday in a Palestinian village outside Bethlehem on the West Bank, witnesses said. The army said it used rubber bullets and tear gas to drive off stone-throwers, but had no information on casualties.
Barak, meanwhile, must now deal with early elections in addition to ongoing crisis with the Palestinians.
Israeli political parties have been holding talks to set an election date, with April or May considered most likely. Barak reluctantly agreed this week to call elections when it became clear parliament was prepared to pass an early election bill by a wide majority.
Barak, who is trailing badly in public opinion polls, has served less than a year and a half after winning a landslide election victory in May 1999.
Barak's main challenger is expected to be either the man he defeated last year, hard-liner Benjamin Netanyahu, or current opposition leader Ariel Sharon.