Taba talks

The Taba talks were a round of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations held at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Taba from 21–27 January 2001, in the closing weeks of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's government and the final days of the Clinton administration in Washington. They followed the failed Camp David summit of July 2000, the outbreak of the Second Intifada in September 2000, and the Clinton Parameters presented in December 2000.

The Israeli delegation was led by Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami and Justice Minister Yossi Beilin; the Palestinian side was led by Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala) and included Saeb Erekat, Yasser Abed Rabbo, and Nabil Shaath. Unlike Camp David, no U.S. mediator was present in the room, though EU envoy Miguel Moratinos observed and later produced the widely cited Moratinos non-paper summarizing the positions reached.

Negotiators reportedly made progress on four core files:

• Territory: discussion of land swaps in the range of a few percent of the West Bank to accommodate settlement blocs.
• Jerusalem: exploration of a formula along the lines of "what is Arab is Palestinian, what is Jewish is Israeli," including arrangements for the Old City and the Haram al-Sharif / Temple Mount.
• Refugees: competing language on UN General Assembly Resolution 194 and a possible mix of return, compensation, and resettlement, without agreed numbers.
• Security: demilitarization arrangements and early-warning stations.

The talks were suspended on 27 January 2001 ahead of Israel's election, in which Ariel Sharon defeated Barak on 6 February. The closing joint statement said the sides had "never been closer" to agreement, but no deal was signed and the framework was not revived. Taba is frequently invoked as a benchmark for the parameters of a two-state settlement.