Albright ready for an ultimatum to Israel, 50th anniversary reschedules Gore
Palestine-Israel-USA, Politics, 4/27/1998

Differences still exist between Israel and the US over the scope of the further redeployment of the Israeli troops in the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted his government couldn't accept the 13.1 percent scale, which the US has suggested.

In his meetings with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Dennis Ross, Netanyahu said he would be ready to consider a 13.1 percent withdrawal if the Palestinians agree to skip the third phase withdrawal. Otherwise, Israel might accept the 11 percent scale of withdrawal provided Infrastructure Minister Ariel Sharon relinquishes his opposition. Sharon so far insists that any further withdrawal of the Israeli army should not cover more than nine percent of the West Bank.

For many Palestinian officials, it is very difficult to believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu has any intention to implement the second phase redeployment in the West Bank within two months. Reports to this effect surfaced in Israel by the weekend but have failed to win the Palestinians' enthusiasm. "We have a feeling that Netanyahu is planning to undermine any possible US pressure on his government before the upcoming summit meeting in London," said one member of the Palestinian negotiating team with Israel. "And when a US pressure on Tel Aviv is not expected anyway, we understand that all these reports are nothing but a hollow maneuver to waste time."

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat himself reiterated on a number of occasions recently that Dennis Ross has nothing to negotiate or to fetch with the Palestinian side because the Palestinian government has accepted the US proposals. "It is up to Israel to decide if the US proposals are acceptable to her or not," Arafat was quoted as saying before a group of journalists upon his return to Gaza on Saturday from a brief visit to Germany.

The US has proposed that Israel pull out of 13.1 percent of the West Bank while Netanyahu spoke of no more than nine percent. Latest reports in Israel said he might be ready to accept a two-digit scope provided if it is less than 11 percent. But even such a scale, if accepted in principle, might not be implemented within four months, estimated a Palestinian official in Ramallah Sunday.

"I think there is nothing for us to anticipate from the present round of talks with Ross. We have already made our position clear and yet we are very upset at the fact that the US Administration is still talking of the need for both the Palestinians and Israel to take tough decisions," said a senior member of the Palestinian negotiating team who requested anonymity. He said Palestine had acceded to requests from the US and accepted "what is far less than the minimum of our demands vis-a-vis the implementation of the interim agreements."

A senior advisor to President Arafat, meanwhile, warned by the weekend that the whole Oslo concept is falling apart due to Israeli intransigence. Akram Haniyyeh, editor-in-chief of Al Ayyam Palestinian daily in Ramallah, wrote on Saturday that Netanyahu is a prisoner of his own dogmatic hard line ideology and does not show any signs of pragmatism. Haniyyeh, who was the senior advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team in Oslo, said that Israeli government under Netanyahu is doing every effort possible to bring to an end the Oslo Accords.

Israel, he added, has intensified Jewish settlement activities on one hand and continued security allegations against the Palestine on the other. "Many waters have run through many rivers since the Oslo Accords were signed," he concluded, "and it seems that we have to consider, thoughtfully and seriously, a new working plan for us to live without the Oslo Accords."

The Palestinian pessimism over the chances of Israel implementing the Oslo Accords is increasing day after day. Even US Vice-President Al Gore who is arriving in the region on Thursday may not be luckier than Ross or Martin Indyk, assistant to the Secretary of State on the Middle East. Both Ross and Indyk arrived in Israel on Saturday night to try and bridge gaps between the two sides and prepare the grounds for a constructive meeting in London next month between President Arafat, Netanyahu and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Even before his arrival, Gore was the focus of Israeli criticism because of his decision to meet with the Palestinian President in Ramallah on Friday. Israel requested that the meeting be canceled because it coincides with its own celebrations of independence. Gore finally agreed to postpone the meeting until Saturday. US sources said in the original itinerary of Gore's visit, there were no plans to meet with President Arafat but the vice-president decided to go ahead and hold such a meeting hoping it would help prepare the grounds for the May 4 meetings in London.

Reports from Washington, meanwhile, said that in the London encounters, Albright might skip the idea of shuttle meetings with both Arafat and Netanyahu and might opt to present to them an ultimatum that "the game is over and that there won't be foot dragging anymore."

US sources said that the Secretary of State last Wednesday spoke separately on the phone with Netanyahu and Arafat, in preparation for her meetings with them in London. The sources said that no more than one meeting with each leader is anticipated, and that no three-way summit is expected.

Previous Stories:
  Arafat will declare Palestinian state at due time   (4/24/1998)
  Palestinian warns of serious crisis, Israel unhappy with V.P. Gore   (4/24/1998)
  US avoids blaming Israel for current stalemate   (4/22/1998)

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