Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's spokesman said today it would be surprising if any breakthrough or agreement was secured at Israeli-Palestinian peace talks before an election is held in Israel on February 6th.
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Prime Minister
Ehud Barak |
"There is no doubt that in the last days before elections it would be very surprising if we were able to reach some kind of a breakthrough or agreement with the Palestinians," said a spokesman.
"But it is very important to leave the door open, to continue trying to build every possible bridge between us and the Palestinians so that we can, immediately after the elections, try to reach further progress," he added.
Mr Barak trails right-wing challenger Mr Ariel Sharon in opinion polls and many commentators say his only chance of winning the prime ministerial election would be if he secured a peace deal after 16 weeks of Israeli-Palestinian unrest.
Israeli and Palestinians negotiators have held several meetings in the past few days but neither side is optimistic of reaching a peace agreement. At least 309 Palestinians, 44 Israelis and 13 Israeli Arabs have been killed in the violence.
Reuters