The UN conference on racism in Durban, South Africa, was at make-or-break point today, with Israel threatening to walk out as a row over language on its treatment of Palestinians remained unresolved.
"The outrageous and manic accusations we have heard here are attempts to turn a political issue into a racial one, with almost no hope of resolution," Israeli delegation leader Mr Mordechai Yadid told the conference, which opened on Friday and has been dominated by the issue ever since.
Arab proposals for the wording of final declarations from the conference amounted to denying Israel's right to exist, he said, accusing them of "venal hatred of Jews".
Yesterday, Mr Yadid told reporters that Israel's bottom-line was: no hate-language, no finger-pointing; no condemnation.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell is boycotting the conference because Washington considers the language on Israel in draft texts hammered out by government negotiators at preparatory meetings in Geneva "offensive".
A mid-level US team dispatched here in a bid to amend the wording has taken no public role in the conference.
Norway drafted a compromise text, but it has been rejected by the Islamic group, while a source close to the US delegation said Washington would not accept any changes to it.
A source close to the Palestinian delegation said the Islamic countries rejected the compromise text "because it did not go to the core of the subject".
The Islamic group did not want the conference to fail, he added.
Israeli Foreign Minister Mr Shimon Peres told reporters in Israel today that any Israeli decision to pull out would be made jointly with Washington.
A high-ranking foreign ministry official said in Jerusalem this morning that "in the coming hours, our delegation will make a decision."
US civil rights activist Jesse Jackson said today that he was involved in the mediation, but gave no details.
An aide to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mrs Mary Robinson, who is secretary general of the conference, said progress in negotiations was "positive".
AFP