Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli officials are reportedly cobbling together both a new peace talk plan and working on a program involving French mediation, Israeli media reported Thursday.

The Hebrew daily newspaper Ma’ariv said Israeli President Shimon Peres and his Defense Minister Ehud Barak were working on a proposal to resume peace talks, while former member of the Israeli Knesset Yossi Beilin is allegedly working on a deal to secure French partnership in peace talks.

The first plan, Ma’ariv reported, follows meetings between Peres and Barak with US and EU officials. The plan would be a two-phase initiative with a Palestinian state being declared on “provisional borders” on approximately half of the land Israel occupied in 1967. The plan allegedly details a gradual pull-out plan from other Palestinian areas, leading up to a second phase: the definition of Palestinian borders in exchange for the explicit recognition of Israel as a Jewish State.

Palestinian officials in all parties have expressed total rejection to the idea of provisional or temporary borders of a Palestinian state, and have point blank refused to formally recognize Israel as a Jewish state, saying the nature of the Israeli state is up to Israel, not Palestine to decide. The plan appears to mirror an earlier program set out by former Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz.

The paper noted dissent within the Israeli Knesset around the plan, noting MKs Benny Begin, Avigor Lieberman and Moshe Ya’alon objecting to the initiative, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is allegedly “waiting for details” before he goes public with his reaction to the plan.

Ma’ariv also reported that several Palestinian officials were being briefed on the plan by American mediators in Washington.

French brokers

A second initiative in the works, according to Ma’ariv, is a mediation attempt by former deputy foreign minister Yossi Beilin, who is allegeldly attempting to start negotiations with Palestinian officials via French channels. Beilin was involved in the Oslo Peace Process, which began in secret with Swedish mediation.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner made no mention of new efforts at mediation during his recent visit to Israel and Palestine. The official did, however, say he hoped a plan for a three-month halt to settlement construction was forthcoming.

For his part, French President Nicolas Sarkozy offered to host a Paris summit, inviting Israel, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, in a bid to reignite peace talks in the region. Sarkozy also passed a message from Israel to Syria over a possible Golan pullout earlier this month.