Erakat: Israeli, Palestinian trust 'below zero'

A masked Palestinian gunman looks on as Israeli troops sweep into the Gaza town of Beit Lahia.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat acknowledged the challenge of overcoming the "below-zero" trust level between Palestinians and Israelis Friday amid ongoing meetings with U.S. officials.

"I am not going to raise any expectations at this stage. This is going to be a difficult process of rebuilding the trust and confidence between Palestinians and Israelis," Erakat told CNN.

His comments came after contentious, high-level talks between Palestinian and Israeli officials ended early Thursday when Israel backed off an offer to withdraw from Bethlehem, according to Palestinian sources. (Related story)

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At the same time, Erakat and two other Palestinian leaders are conducting a series of meetings with U.S. officials to discuss reform in the Palestinian Authority.

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell met Thursday with Erakat, Interior Minister Abdel Razaq al-Yihya, and Economy, Industry and Trade Minister Maher al-Masri.

The three Palestinian representatives were scheduled to have working-level meetings Friday at the State Department. Al-Yihya is also expected to meet with CIA Director George Tenet before leaving the area.

Under discussion is how the sides can reach the "endgame" defined by President Bush -- the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the next three years, with Palestinians and Israelis living side by side, Erakat said.

Erakat said there would never be military resolutions to the conflict or to the pursuit of what the Palestinians have long wanted -- an end to Israeli occupation and Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories.

He said a timetable and an action plan are needed, and believes Bush's three-year timeline is reasonable.

The meetings are exploring all avenues of reform, Erakat said, such as rebuilding political, social and economic systems and addressing the drastic humanitarian crisis in Palestinian territories, hard-hit by nearly two years of conflict.

Erakat said he is happy to hear about a United Nations' mission to deal with the humanitarian situation in the territories, where malnutrition and unemployment are rife, public health problems are feared, and personal desperation is widespread.

Erakat said the subject of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has not come up in the talks. Bush, questioning Arafat's credibility, has called for new Palestinian leadership, saying peace cannot be achieved under the current leadership.

But Erakat stressed that the administration "knows we are not a freelance delegation" and that "we represent President Arafat and the Palestinian Authority."

When asked about the response by Palestinians to terror attacks, such as the recent one at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Erakat said the Palestinian Authority condemned that attack and others against Israeli civilians, and called street celebrations of the Hebrew University attack "absolutely unacceptable."

While the Palestinian delegation met with U.S. officials Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in an appearance at a college, called the Palestinian Authority "a gang of murderers."

Alon Pinkas, Israeli consul-general in New York, called Erakat "a man of peace" but said he does not call the shots in the region. He believes Erakat's dream of Palestinian statehood "is attainable, but many things have to happen in order for this to become a reality."

Other developments

A 40-year-old Palestinian man was killed when Israeli forces shot him on his farm near the Tulkarem refugee camp in the West Bank, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said Friday.

The incident came after Israeli forces said they arrested an Hamas commander at Qalqilya in a house where they found an explosive belt, potentially heading off a possible attack in Israel. The medical organization said Israeli security forces prevented an ambulance from reaching the man at Tulkarem and his body was taken to a hospital in a private car.

A Red Crescent official said there was no Israeli military operation going on at the time, and that the man's death was an isolated shooting. Israeli security sources said Israeli troops were fired on and they fired back with light weapons. They said the incident was still being investigated.

In addition, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman said one of the two men detained in a house where an explosives belt was found Friday in Qalqilya was a senior Hamas military official. The spokesman said the capture of Abdel Rahman Dhamas "prevented a large attack that was planned for the near future inside Israel."