Will London meeting be canceled?
Palestine-Israel-USA, Politics, 4/30/1998

Only a few days remain before the upcoming London meetings, which will involve Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu but so far failure seems to be the name of the game as some Israeli officials have spoken behind walls of the need to postpone the London meeting while others estimated it might be canceled.

According to Palestinian and US sources, there have not been any real breakthroughs in the latest round of shuttle meetings which US peace envoys to the region Dennis Ross and Martin Indyk have held with Netanyahu and his team. As a matter of fact, said one source, Netanyahu's tone lately has become even harder and too difficult to understand. "Netanyahu," said the source, "is clearly trying to push the state of affairs between Israel and the US to the verge of confrontation, hoping that this effort would get him support from within the US congress against the administration of President Bill Clinton."

Israel found itself in a difficult position following the acceptance by President Arafat of the US proposal for a 13 percent scale of Israeli redeployment in the West Bank. Arafat announced in his joint press conference with visiting Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa on Wednesday that he decided to accept the US proposal in order to save the peace process and to deny Prime Minister Netanyahu any chance to evade further implementation of the interim agreements.

The Palestinian position has as such been admired by US officials who saw that it has removed one of the major stumbling blocks before US diplomacy in the region. "We appreciate the new trend of cooperation we have seen on the part of the PNA," said one US official who accompanied Dennis Ross in his current trip to the region. He added that efforts are now being directed at the Israeli government in order to make sure that the proposed percentage of further withdrawal of Israeli troops is implemented.

The official, who requested anonymity, stressed that the US Administration would do its best for the London meeting to succeed, "but it is not going to be an easy job." He refused to elaborate on reports that suggested US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright might not present her initiative for peace in the region and said it is still up to the president and the secretary to decide, based on reports they receive from both Ross and Indyk.

On Wednesday night, Ross held another round of talks with Arafat and discussed with him preparations for the London talks. Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, who attended the meeting, said afterwards that both sides discussed the agenda for the London meeting and that President Arafat insisted that Secretary Albright officially submit the US initiative. Erekat said the time has come for the US to exert genuine pressure on Israel "since it is clear to everyone that the Netanyahu's government is not ready to move -- not even a single step forward."

Ross is scheduled to meet with Arafat again on Friday and on Saturday when he will accompany US Vice President Al Gore on a visit to Ramallah where an official reception will be held for him by Arafat and his senior officials.

For Palestinian officials, the latest acceptance by President Arafat of the US initiative scored a number of points for Palestinian diplomacy with the US. They noted that US officials have lately been speaking positively about the Palestinian government, something they rarely did in the past. And that is not only because of the acceptance of the 13 percent scale of withdrawal which Washington suggested but because many in the US Administration feel they are being pushed into an open confrontation with Israel and through her with the congress.

The feeling that the London meeting might be canceled has surfaced after a series of meetings with the two US envoys to the Middle East, Dennis Ross and Martin Indyk held with Palestinian and Israeli officials. Observers believe the latest Israeli intransigence, the rejection of an American offer of 13 percent as the scale for the second phase withdrawal of the Israeli troops has become a source of concern for US officials and would become on top of the agenda of talks between Netanyahu and visiting US Vice President Al Gore who arrived in Israel on Thursday to attend Israel's 50 anniversary of proclamation, according to the Jewish calendar.

Palestine has officially accepted the US proposal, though it was seen as much less than the minimum the Palestinians would have accepted some weeks ago. "But we decided to accept the US proposals in order to revive the peace process and force the Israeli government, and Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu to live up to the signed agreements and to move at least one step forward on the road to implementing all the outstanding clauses of the interim agreements," declared President Arafat in a joint press conference with visiting Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa on Wednesday.

Arafat said he would try in the London meeting to reach clear conclusions, not only for the Palestinian government but also for the US administration. A senior Palestinian source said it is about time for the US not only to know who is blocking any progress in the peace process but to admit that in the open. "We hope US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright comes to the London meeting with a clear determination to declare her initiative and to blame Israel if Netanyahu refuses to accept the initiative," the source said.

Talking about the percentage issue, which has become the core point of differences between the US and Israel, Arafat said that Israel was supposed to have delivered back to Palestine 40 percent of the West Bank within the first and second stages of redeployment. This percentage, he said, was later brought down to 30 percent and now, "They are talking of 13 percent, and we decided to accept this very low scale of withdrawal out of our strategic commitment to protect the peace process and to deny Netanyahu any chance to evade further implementation of the interim agreements."

Netanyahu was quoted as telling his aides that he would never capitulate to US pressures, and sources in his office claimed the US and Palestine were coordinating their positions. In his brief meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday, Netanyahu described the US conviction regarding an exact percentage of withdrawal as baseless and said he would have no way of implementing the US demands without endangering Israel's security.

Moussa, meanwhile, predicted that the London talks might not succeed in getting the peace process out of the present deadlock. In his press conference with Arafat in Gaza, Moussa said the Palestinian question and the peace process are going through a very critical stage because of the impasse caused by the Israeli policy of intransigence. He noted that the US initiative was less than the minimum of what the Palestinians demand but it still formed a step that, should it succeed, could save the peace talks.

Previous Stories:
  Albright ready for an ultimatum to Israel, 50th anniversary reschedules Gore   (4/27/1998)
  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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