President Clinton Meets With Israeli Prime Minister Barak to Prod Middle East Peace Process Forward
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: With talks, the peace talks between Israel and Syria frozen, Israeli workers have begun construction of 200 new homes in the Golan Heights. They are going up in the largest Israeli settlement there, Katrin (ph). Talks on a land-for-peace accord broke down in January. Israel captured the Golan in the 1967 Mideast War. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is expected to meet with U.S. President Bill Clinton at the White House shortly to talk about the stalled Mideast peace process. CNN's White House correspondent Major Garrett joins us now with more -- Major.</s>MAJOR GARRETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Judy, Israeli Prime Minister Barak will arrive here at the White House momentarily. He'll meet with President Clinton in an atmosphere of urgency, at least from the United States' point of view about where the Israeli- Palestinian peace process is. For months now, President Clinton has allowed Prime Minister Barak and the Palestinians to conduct their negotiations on their own, but he felt the need to step in to see exactly where those talks are. There is a May 13th deadline looming, that's a deadline to establish a framework, an outline for an ultimate peace deal that both sides have dedicated themselves to reaching in September. White House officials acknowledge privately that, that deadline, though not slipping, is certainly in jeopardy. President Clinton can, of course, call Prime Minister Barak on the phone at any time, but he wanted to meet with him face to face to try to put some personal persuasion on the line to try to prod this peace process a little bit forward. Major Garrett, CNN, the White House.</s>WOODRUFF: Thank you, Major. Search CNN.com CNNSI.com CNNmoney.com The Web