LEADERSHIP OF ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER EHUD BARAK

Early day motion 228, tabled 21 December 1999 by Stephen Twigg (Labour). Signed by 67 members.

That this House applauds the courage and determination of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak at the restart of negotiations with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Sharah; acknowledges that territorial compromise on the Golan Heights represents a painful sacrifice for the present and future security of the State of Israel, welcomes the Sharm el Skeikh Understanding which opened a safe passage between Gaza and the West Bank; congratulates Israel's courageous pledge to withdraw from the security zone in Southern Lebanon; implores the Syrian and Lebanese Governments to ensure that the region is no longer used as a base for terrorist attacks on Northern Israel; notes that since the democratic election of Ehud Brak the peace process has been rejuvinated largely because of his and Chairman Arafat's determination for justice for all the peoples of the region; and calls on Her Majesty's Government to redouble its efforts to further spread democracy in a region of over 400 million people as the best guarantee of a peaceful Middle East in the part of the world where the first millennium began.

Signatures by party: Labour 55, Labour/Co-operative 7, Liberal Democrat 3, Conservative 1, Independent Labour 1.