BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the Middle East. Israel Tuesday briefly suspended talks with the Palestinians, accusing them of sticking to hard-line positions, a charge also leveled by the Palestinians against the Israelis. A spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Barak said both sides -- quote -- "will" meet Wednesday to discuss a basis for renewing the talks. Our man, Jerrold Kessel, has more from Jerusalem.</s>JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Since the end of the Camp David summit, the top negotiators have met sporadically, but with little effect.</s>SAEB ERAKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: It's obvious now that Mr. Barak is working very hard on his strategy. He's concentrating merely on the internal efforts. He's not concentrated on how to make peace. I'm not saying that the peace process is dying. But I feel we don't have a partner.</s>KESSEL: The fault is Yasser Arafat, not Ehud Barak, counter Israeli negotiators.</s>GILAD SHER, ISRAELI NEGOTIATOR: The last leg in the negotiations is always the most difficult one. It requires courage. It requires a lot of historic sense. And it requires the taking of certain decisions that unfortunately we haven't experienced yet by the Palestinian side.</s>KESSEL: U.S. leaders have recently met separately with the two sides to try to assess the state of the talks: a failure since Camp David of the Israelis and Palestinians to bridge their deep divisions prompting Washington to again become actively involved. But each side worries the U.S. may favor the other. (on camera): Only one person on the Palestinian side takes the critical decision, say the Israelis: Yasser Arafat. Only one person on the Israeli side takes the critical decision say the Palestinians: Ehud Barak. Now both these leaders are worriedly waiting to see where the U.S. decision-maker, President Clinton himself, will be taking this faltering process. Jerrold Kessel, CNN, on the West Bank.
Israel Temporarily Suspends Talks with Palestinians