According to an official answer to a Clinton administration proposal made public for the first time by the Israel State Archives on Sunday, the Barak administration consented to cede some of Israel’s authority over the Temple Mount and the Old City of Jerusalem in December 2000.
According to Ynet, Israel consented to give up control of the area where the mosques are located on the Temple Mount.
The Clinton administration’s plan included the following words in Hebrew: “de facto division of sovereignty on the Temple Mount.”
Israel asked that Hezekiah’s Tunnel, the Siloam Tunnel, the Makhkame structure that overlooks the Temple Mount, the City of David, and the Mount of Olives all remain under its control.
Israel raised opposition to the American proposal to hand up the Armenian Quarter of the Old City to the Palestinians, stating that “Armenians aren’t Arabs.”
As an alternative, Israel proposed that “everything from the Jaffa Gate straight and to the left [the Christian and Muslim quarters] will be Palestinian, and everything to the right [the Jewish and Armenian quarters] will be Israeli.”
Israel insisted that 8% of Judea and Samaria remain under Israeli control, which equated to the retention of only 20% of the region.
Additionally, according to Ynet, it committed to keeping no more than 2% of the Gaza Strip.
The memo reveals that Israel didn’t get a lot of positive responses to its demands. Israel voiced worry over the fact that “Palestinian recognition of the Jewish narrative regarding the Temple Mount was not accepted.”
Israel renounced its demand that Palestinian sovereignty be restricted to the areas surrounding the Old City and other areas with an Arab majority.
It was said that their desire to delay Palestinian control over the Jordan Valley until the conclusion of the final-status discussions had “no chance” of being granted.
Israel’s request for an international force to exclusively be stationed in the Jordan Valley and at the Gaza border with Egypt was also rejected.
The United States suggested that the force be stationed at Israel’s border with the State of Palestine.
The Israeli suggestion that Hebron, Rachel’s Tomb outside of Bethlehem, Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus, and other sacred sites would stay under Israeli control was also rejected by President Bill Clinton’s negotiators.
The memo, an official Israeli response to Clinton’s suggestions, was kept in the file of the late Noah Kinarti, a member of Israel’s negotiation team and advisor to the defense minister on settlement issues.
The file contains a letter written in English that was addressed to Sandy Berger, the national security adviser for President Clinton, in January 2001 by Gilead Sher, chief of staff to Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
Israel regards the outlines as “a basis for discussion, provided that they remain, as they are, a basis for discussion acceptable to the Palestinians,” according to Sher’s statement in the letter.
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