US - Palestine - Israel summit kicks off
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 10/15/1998

The three-way summit between the Palestinian, Israeli and US leaders got underway this morning to try and hammer out an agreement on the second phase of Israeli redeployment from the West Bank.

US President Bill Clinton this morning in a statement with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu emphasized the need for the Palestinians and Israelis to cooperate toward an agreement, saying, "What they must do, they must do together." Clinton said the summit provides the opportunity to move the process forward out of its current "logjam."

In this respect Clinton asserted the importance of mutual respect and understanding between the two sides, so that they can reach an agreement. He said neither side "can expect to win 100 percent of every point" during the talks.

The talks will center around a US proposal on redeployment, which the Palestinians accepted, but which Israel has sought to modify. The modified version of the 13 percent redeployment agreement has been reported to include 3 percent set aside as a nature reserve.

An issue that has been a point of contention between the two sides is reciprocity in security matters and actions. While Israel wants a strong emphasis placed on its security, the Palestinian leaders are concerned about the treatment of their citizens by Israel and lax Israeli punishments for those who attack Palestinians.

The three-way meetings follow Clinton's separate meetings in Washington with Arafat and Netanyahu, that indicated a pending agreement on the Oslo second-phase redeployment, and a subsequent trip to the Israeli and Palestinian areas by US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to advance the peace process.

Arafat needs to make very clear that he "will give 100 percent effort" toward the security concerns of Israel, Albright reiterated today.

Clinton noted this morning that even after an agreement is reached, there will be more difficulties facing its implementation.

US State Department spokesman James Rubin said yesterday that the US has also been trying to establish a "package of measures in the security area that would build an infrastructure to fight terrorism" in the Palestinian and Israeli territories. "This parallel process of security, infrastructure and further redeployment is what constitutes the core of the American ideas that have been discussed and detailed for many months now," he said.

Clinton this afternoon described part of his motivation for not giving up on the peace process, saying that the US will "not permit hate or anger to destroy one child's life."

After an agreement on redeployment is reached, other "final status" issues will remain to be solved, which include the possible establishment of an independent Palestinian state and the status of Jerusalem. The deadline for the resolution of final status talks is in early May 1999.

Previous Stories:
  Israeli Prime Minister heads to the US to finalize agreement with Arafat   (10/14/1998)
  Strategy of negotiations between the Palestine and Israel revealed   (10/10/1998)
  It looks like a deal is done on interim Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian areas   (9/29/1998)

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