Netanyahu fears US recognition of Palestinian state, as Ross and Indyk lack breakthrough
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 4/27/1998

Israeli and US officials have failed to reach any agreement on the scale of the second phase redeployment in the West Bank.

Diplomatic sources in Washington confirmed that the US special envoys to the Middle East, Dennis Ross and Martin Indyk, support a 13.1 percent withdrawal of the Israeli troops despite the strong opposition by prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu.

Officials in Israel, meanwhile, said that Ross and Indyk have no mandate from the US Administration to lessen the scope of the redeployment and that the situation does not look promising, from an Israeli viewpoint. Both Ross and Indyk have rounded up their second day of consultations with Palestinian and Israeli officials amid assessment that their failure might lead to the collapse of the London meetings, scheduled for May 4 between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Netanyahu. Both will be seeing separately US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Palestinian chief negotiators Mahmoud Abbas and Dr. Saeb Erekat met Ross on Monday, hours before his meeting with Netanyahu. They both told the after the meeting that the Palestinian has called on the US to avoid further attempts on Israel's part to waste time. "We should stop dealing with all these procedural issues and get to issues of substance and we believe the US should practice a real pressure on Israel to force her accept the special proposals for the second and third phase redeployments," said Erekat.

In their Sunday night meeting in Gaza, Palestinian President Arafat pledged Ross he would do his best to save the peace efforts and help President Clinton and Secretary Albright in their quest to restore credibility to the peace process in the region. Arafat's special media advisor, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, told reporters that Ross plans to stay in the region for a whole week and should be meeting with Arafat again on Wednesday.

There are a lot of issues which still need more discussions, said Abu Rudeineh who reiterated that Palestine has responded positively to the US ideas. He said Israel has so far failed to accept those ideas "but it is still premature to judge the outcome of Ross' mission." "We reacted to these ideas positively and we are waiting to see if the USA will convince or pressure the Israeli government to accept them. The US ideas are a comprehensive draft which start from withdrawal from Palestinian lands and end up with issues such as the airport, safe passage and prisoners issue," said Abu Rudeineh.

In Israel, the assessment is that talks between US mediators Ross and Indyk and Netanyahu have produced more of the same: no results with Israel continuing to object to the US proposal of a 13.1 percent troop withdrawal. Reports from Washington said that US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright believes the situation in the Middle East is very severe and intends, in her meetings in London next month, to tell both Arafat and Netanyahu that they should stop wasting time.

Differences have reportedly risen between officials in the Israeli foreign minister and the prime minister's office. Sources in the foreign ministry suspect that if the London talks fail, a confrontation may be sparked between Israel on one hand and the United States, Europe and the UN on the other. The prime minister's aides, however, reject this assessment and view it as an attempt to intimidate the public.

Meanwhile, debate on the question of a Palestinian state that Arafat plans to declare by May next year, has increased with both Netanyahu and former prime minister Shimon Peres adopting extreme conflicting views on the matter. Netanyahu warned that the establishment of a Palestinian state without the agreement of Israel would bring into existence what he termed a new Iran or Iraq in the Middle East. In a U.S. T.V. interview Netanyahu warned Palestinian President Arafat against a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state. "We want a solution that will be accepted in negotiations and that will allow the Palestinians to manage their lives without endangering the lives of others," he said.

Netanyahu brought up the question of Arafat's intention to declare a state in his talks with Ross on Sunday. He suggested that the US should declare now its opposition to a declaration of this kind and publicly state its refusal to recognize this state. He reportedly hinted that he would be ready to consider generous second phase redeployment if the US comes up with an anti-Palestinian state declaration.

Knesset member Shimon Peres, on his part, had told reporters in Gaza on Sunday after his meeting with Arafat that he hopes that by May 1999, the permanent agreement between Israel and the Palestinians will be signed, and that a Palestinian state will be established and recognized by Israel. "We need to create a separation; a Jewish state alongside an independent Palestinian entity, in order to prevent a situation where there is a bi-national country or a bi-national tragedy," said the former prime minister at the end of his breakfast in Gaza with President Arafat. The two discussed at length various ways of saving the peace process.

Arafat also discussed Israel's celebrations of its 50th anniversary and said that from the Palestinians' perspective; it is a time to mark the "tragedy of the Palestinian people, a tragedy in the course of which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians became homeless refugees."

Previous Stories:
  Albright ready for an ultimatum to Israel, 50th anniversary reschedules Gore   (4/27/1998)
  Arafat will declare Palestinian state at due time   (4/24/1998)

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