Netanyahu to Washington and related developments
Israel-Palestine, Politics, 1/19/1998

Stripped from any cabinet clearance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on his way to Washington for his summit meeting on Tuesday, with US President Bill Clinton.

The only guidance Netanyahu obtained from his extreme-right wing government was a "room to maneuver" but not any authorization to discuss the extent of the Israeli second phase troop redeployment in the West Bank.

In light of Netanyahu¹s hints after the cabinet meeting, it seems that his ministers reached a conclusion that 63%-64% of the West Bank constitutes what Israel calls its ³national and security" interests. The message greatly contradicts the Palestinian interpretation of the Oslo Accords which, by the end of the third phase redeployment in the West Bank and prior to the finalization of the permanent status negotiations, states that no less than 90 percent of the West Bank will be under the Palestinian control. The remaining 10 percent being comprised of Jewish settlements and Israeli army installations.

The 64 percent figure hinted at by Netanyahu had arisen from two different maps presented to the government by Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai and National Infrastructures Minister Ariel Sharon. Therefore, it¹s also not surprising that Sharon, who asked to limit Netanyahu in his talks in Washington, expressed satisfaction with the cabinet's decision.

US sources were quoted in Israel as saying that the US Administration may now present a package offer to Netanyahu in order to move the peace process out of its present impasse. The proposal, sources said, is based on gradual redeployment of Israeli troops in three stages while Palestinian commitment to the interim agreements is scrutinized simultaneously.

Saeb Erekat called the ³Naveh document² full of half-truths and distortions, in an unusually strongly worded letter to Cabinet Secretary Dan Naveh. He also argued that the Israeli government could not determine the results of the final status talks in internal cabinet negotiations and noted that the Palestinians are completing the process of amending the Palestinian charter.

The Clinton-Netanyahu summit today will concentrate on the negotiations with the Palestinians and the range of the second redeployment. The US has already made clear to Israel that no other issues relevant to peace talks, such as the Syrian track, or the so-called Iranian threat, were to be raised in the meeting.

US officials thought Netanyahu might try to derail the Washington summit into discussing issues other than the redeployment of his troops in the West Bank. In their meeting, President Clinton is expected to suggest conducting the redeployment in stages linked to fulfillment of Palestinian obligations as according to the Hebron agreement, and, at the same time, beginning final status negotiations.

Netanyahu seems prepared to discuss this proposal. But his readiness stems from the fact that he believes chances are slim that the Palestinians or the US Administration are willing to skip the third redeployment and as such Israel will be compelled to divide the second redeployment into two stages. Netanyahu expects that negotiations on the new redeployment formula might take up to several weeks and that gives him more time to survive his internal coalition crisis.

President Clinton will also be receiving Palestinian President Yasser Arafat at the White House on Thursday. Knowing his meeting with President Clinton might not bring the hoped-for results, Arafat decided to conduct a number of meetings on his way to Washington. The first leg of his present trip was Cairo where he met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Arafat is also due to meet with British Prime Minister Anthony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac. His move, observers said, is aimed to obtain European support for the Palestinian stands with regard to Israel's failure to honor its commitments in the interim agreements. Europe has invested close to US $ 4 billion in the Palestinian areas since 1994 and European businessmen do not want to see their money evaporating into thin air as they see the peace process falling apart. Palestinian sources said that in the absence of real US pressure on Israel, Europe might be able to play a more effective role "certainly because of close commercial ties between Israel and the European Community."

US officials had reportedly hinted to their European counterparts that Washington would not oppose political and economic pressure by Europe on Israel if the Washington talks do not bring the hoped-for results. President Clinton, Palestinian observers believe, might be willing to practice some form of pressure on Israel but is not willing to do so because of domestic considerations. Therefore, they said, if he feels totally disappointed by the Israeli stand, he would then signal to the European Community to exert some pressure on their part.

President Arafat will bring President Clinton a document that has a detailed account of the articles already canceled from the Palestinian national charter, and an offer ³to complete the process of nullification² -- in partnership with the Americans. Chief Palestine negotiator Dr. Saeb Erekat sent a severe letter to Israeli Cabinet Secretary Danny Naveh in which he attacked the Israeli government as being uninterested in peace. He demanded that Israel cancel the ³violations document² that the cabinet secretary passed on to the hands of the Palestinian Authority. Erekat wrote that the violation document ³is full of half-truths and distortions² and said the goal behind preparing such a document was to "destroy the peace process.² Erekat's letter came in response to the Israeli document that was drafted last week and claimed that Palestine has not fulfilled its part of the interim agreements, mainly on the question of security and the full amendment of the Palestinian Charter.

With regard to the charter, Erekat quoted the decision taken by the plenum of the Palestinian National Council, on 24 April 1996, and added: ³This decision received the authorization of the US Administration and the Israeli government. When we agreed with the Israeli government to complete the process of amending the charter, we understood -- both sides -- that this process would include the detailing of articles in the charter that were canceled or changed. We are about to finish this process with the US Administration.²

Israel also claimed that the Palestinian police have outnumbered the figure agreed upon in the agreements. Erekat rejected this claim too and said that those serving in the Palestinian police do not exceed 30,000 and not 36,000 as Israel claimed. He noted that there is a big contradiction between the demands Israel makes on the Palestinian government to make a hundred percent effort against violence and terror, and her claims that the people serving in the Palestinian police are more than what was agreed upon.

Previous Stories:
  Shaath: catastrophe is ahead of us   (1/16/1998)
  In Washington, no lunch for Netanyahu   (1/16/1998)
  No more redeployment maps - Israel piles demands   (1/14/1998)

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