Barak and Arafat face post-summit troubles at home

Arafat departs from Andrews Air Force Base Tuesday afternoon

In this story: Both sides pledge more negotiation Talks may resume in August RELATED STORIES, SITES

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat are expected to arrive home to a tense situation Wednesday after leaving the Middle East peace summit without reaching an agreement.

Each man's homecoming will be marked by demonstrations, planned for Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories, by both proponents and opponents of what the two leaders tried to achieve in 15 days of talks with U.S. President Bill Clinton at Camp David, Maryland.

VIDEO CNN's Jerrold Kessel investigates the uncertain future of peace in the Middle East Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Barak spoke Tuesday afternoon about the end of the talks Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Watch Clinton's announcement on the end of the talks Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     AUDIO U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright explains what's the next step for the two leaders to take 282K/26 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     ALSO The text of the trilateral statement released at Camp David     MESSAGE BOARD Mideast peace     GRAPHIC Dividing Jerusalem for Peace

Whether those demonstrations remain peaceful or erupt into violence could be a key factor in determining how soon Barak and Arafat resume talks, if at all, CNN's Mike Hanna reported. Israeli and Palestinian security forces are on high alert, amid fears of unrest in the West Bank and Gaza.

Both sides pledge more negotiation

The leaders are bringing back a committment to further negotiation. Each pledged in a joint statement, issued before they left the United States, to continue their attempts to achieve peace.

Barak on his return will face a Knesset or parliament likely to be just as hostile as, if not more than, it was on his departure. His first task will be to reorganize a coalition government that fell apart when several ministers resigned in protest against the Camp David talks.

The prime minister can expect criticism from both the left and the right. The left likely will be critical because he came away with no agreement, while the right contends that Barak already has made compromises that threaten the state of Israel.

Talks may resume in August

Meanwhile, Arafat is expected to meet in Egypt with President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday and make a statement afterwards.

On Tuesday, a Palestinian official familiar with the Middle East peace summit talks told CNN there is an understanding the talks will resume in the United States in August.

He said "both the Israelis and Palestinians had drafted proposals on issues and given those drafts to the Americans." He added the Americans had not put the drafts together but it is "understood, when talks resume, we will pick up from where these draft documents left off."

He also said the two sides agreed not to leak details after returning to the region. The official said any released information would provide only vague explanations of what took place at Camp David, not substance.

CNN Jerusalem Bureau Chief Mike Hanna and CNN's Larry Register and Sausan Ghosheh contributed to this report.

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The Israeli Government's Official Website, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Knesset - The Israeli Parliament
Palestinian National Authority Home Page
U.N. Information System: Palestine
Near Eastern Affairs: Middle East Peace Process
Camp David Accords
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright

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