Israeli Prime Minister to visit Washington tomorrow
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 5/12/1998

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Washington tomorrow, where he will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in an attempt to break the peace process deadlock on the Israeli - Palestinian track.

Israeli radio, whose broadcast is picked from Cairo, said this morning that during his visit, Netanyahu will meet on Thursday with the American Jewish Committee in an attempt to reduce the amount of pressure the U.S. will place on Israel.

On the other hand, the Arab league criticized the Washington meetings' cancellation. Secretary-general of the Arab League, Esmat Abdul-Meguid, said "Canceling the meeting expresses the failure that took place to the peace track, and this confirms Israel's insistence on failing any European or American attempt."

He has also said" if American wants to save the peace process, it must press on Israel, to accept the American initiative, and to reveal to the public who is responsible for failing the negotiations."

U.S. President Bill Clinton yesterday in a statement expressed his disappointment at the cancellation of the meetings and said, "I have asked Secretary Albright to meet later this week with Prime Minister Netanyahu while he is in Washington. The objective of those discussions will be to seek to overcome the remaining differences so that we can proceed immediately with accelerated permanent status talks."

Referring to the second phase of redeployment as "a key aspect of the Oslo accords," U.S. State Department spokesperson James Rubin said that the U.S. has to bring "this phase of mediation to an end," adding that peace talks cannot go on forever.

In similar remarks, national security advisor Sandy Berger added, "We are not going to water down our proposal."

Previous Stories:
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