YOSSI BEILIN, FORMER ISRAELI MINISTER: I don`t think so. I think that it is a kind of red herring, suggested by Mr Sharon. We are in a process, which is called the `Madrid process` and that has begun on October 30, 1991. And now, since then, we are having this procedure, we are having the invitees, we are having the co-sponsors. And the co-sponsors may invite the parties, if they agree to it, whenever they want. So, after more than 10 years, there is a good reason to invite the parties and to launch a new process which will be the second chapter of the Madrid conference, whereby Israel will bilaterally negotiate with the Palestinians, the Syrians and the Lebanese, and Israel will not be in a position, like they are not in a position, to decide who will represent any country.

JANA WENDT: Mr Beilin, you, at the time of recording this interview, are planning to have a meeting with Secretary Powell as part of a so-called `peace coalition` in Israel. What will you be putting to Secretary Powell and do you think he`ll be receptive to your message?

YOSSI BEILIN: Well, most of us are the veterans of the negotiations with the Palestinians. We know the situation. We know the Palestinians very well and we know the ideas which have been put on the table in the last 10 years or so. I think that, now, the most important thing is to rehabilitate the Palestinian Authority, because this authority is the only address that Israel can work with and cooperate with in the future. So this is one very important thing, before agreeing on a cease-fire, to know that there is somebody over there who is able to implement it. Then, there is the question of the international forces. I do think that, now, a referee, a monitoring group, and, eventually, an international force, which would help us both until the permanent agreement and then, during the implementation of the permanent agreement, all these things are vital and I think that the Americans will be much more attentive to these ideas than before. And then, there is this question of the international conference. If it is serious, if the parties are ready for such a conference, it might be a very important contribution. If they just are searching for excuses or preconditions why not to have it, then it might be dragged for a long while and it is not worthwhile wasting time on something which will not fly.

JANA WENDT: You mention the desirability of rehabilitating the Palestinian Authority and, yet, of course, Chairman Arafat has been branded a liar and a terrorist by Prime Minister Sharon. That would be some rehabilitation, wouldn`t it?

YOSSI BEILIN: Well, I think that the attitude of Mr Sharon to Mr Arafat is not serious enough. I mean, to take a government resolution that is irrelevant is a joke and isolating him eventually isolated us. We did not succeed, or Mr Sharon did not succeed, in isolating Arafat. Arafat became the most important politician in the world since his so-called isolation. He has kept meetings with foreign ministers and dignitaries and becoming a kind of a martyr. So I think that Mr Sharon should understand that, with all the misgivings of Yasser Arafat, and he has many of them, he is the elected leader of the Palestinian people, and there is no chance in the world that Mr Sharon will replace him by somebody with whom he thinks he can work.

JANA WENDT: Well, we`ve also seen the arrest of an important figure, Marwan Barghouti. How do you think that will affect what happens from here?

YOSSI BEILIN: Well, I believe that it was a very big mistake. Mr Barghouti is not a saint. He is a leader who, at the beginning, believed very much in peace and had very good relations with us Israelis. Then, he came to a conclusion, which was totally wrong, that, without using violence, it won`t be possible to get to the Palestinian national targets and became very close to the use of violence and gave the wrong orders to his people. Nevertheless, he is a very prominent leader. He is elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council and, in my view, he is a future counterpart, a future address. What we have to do is to change the circumstances, to change the surrounding, which would be conducive to a return to the negotiating table, rather than arresting such people, rather than making them heroes in their own streets and rather than creating a situation whereby we Israelis will become hostages of our own prisoners. It happened to us in the past and it shouldn`t happen now.

JANA WENDT: Mr Beilin, the al-Aqsa brigades, which have been responsible for deadly attacks on Israeli civilians recently declared Marwan Barghouti their leader. Now, that would put him right at the heart of the terror against Israel, wouldn`t it?

YOSSI BEILIN: There is no question about the involvement of Mr Barghouti with violence and terrorism. But I want to remind ourselves that there are many leaders of Hamas, of Islamic Jihad, who are free people now and I think that it is not so stupid that they are not all in prison. There is a limit to what you can do with political leaders. You can arrest people who are involved directly with terrorism, with violence. This is more than the logical thing. But to arrest these people would be, in my view, a mistake, unless they are involved in some very clear future terrorist attack. And, by arresting them, you prevent violence. I don`t believe that, by arresting Barghouti, we are decreasing violence. I`m afraid it is the other way round. So, maybe morally, it is okay but we are speaking about politics. We are speaking about the lives of the people in this region and, in this context, I think that the arrest of Mr Barghouti was an Israeli mistake and I hope that the government will decide to free him as soon as possible.

JANA WENDT: Well, Mr Barghouti, as we understand it, is in the hands of Israeli intelligence and, presumably, what they will be wanting to hear from him is how close Mr Arafat`s connection is to some of these acts of terrorism perpetrated on Israelis. Do you think that is not a worthwhile aim?

YOSSI BEILIN: Well, there is no question about the slippery slope in which we find ourselves there. And there is one question - what do we really want? What does Israel want? What do the Palestinians want? If we want to judge each other, if we want to find the truth about how it all happened and leave the reality and leave the question of how can we get to peaceful negotiations, it`s fine. I don`t believe that this is our main role. That should be left for history. We should do whatever is possible in order to save ourselves and our children, and I`m not sure that dealing now with the search of the truth would help us, really.

JANA WENDT: Well, Mr Beilin, let me ask you about another search for the truth. Israel is currently being accused by Palestinians and now some journalists of a massacre in Jenin. What do you know about what actually did take place in Jenin?

YOSSI BEILIN: I don`t believe that there was a massacre in Jenin. People were killed. Palestinians were killed. The Israeli soliers were killed. And, again, I mean, these things should be left to those who would like to investigate it, to search for the truth. I don`t believe that, now, our main aim is to search for these things. It is always a kind of a red herring in the hands of those who don`t believe that there is a chance for these two miserable peoples to live together normally.

JANA WENDT: Yossi Beilin. I`m afraid we have to leave it there. Very much appreciate your time.