Israelis and Palestinians set their sights on a blueprint for peace at marathon talks in Egypt today, two weeks before an Israeli election which new polls showed hawkish Ariel Sharon winning by a landslide.
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Polls show the hawkish Ariel Sharon winning the Israeli election by a landslide
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Sharon maintained his lead over Prime Minister Ehud Barak while negotiators prepared for a second full day of talks at the Red Sea resort of Taba and Israel made its first contact with the administration of new US President George W. Bush.
The two Israeli newspaper polls showed Sharon winning 46-51 percent of the vote to Barak's 30-31 percent. But one of the polls showed a record quarter of Israelis had yet to make up their minds ahead of the February 6 vote.
Barak's office said he outlined Israel's red lines in a telephone call with US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Monday night.
Bush's administration has yet to set its own peacemaking agenda after his predecessor Bill Clinton left office on Saturday, ending a seven-year, hands-on effort to broker an end to half a century of Middle East hostility.
The Bush administration had indicated it would take a wait-and-see attitude until after the Israeli election.
Reuters