Eighth day of Palestinian-Israeli talks focus on implementation
Palestine, Politics, 10/22/1998

Palestinian skepticism remains about the amount of progress being made in negotiations with the Israelis, as opposed to the Israeli side which is portraying a sense that progress is being made today.

This comes after many reports yesterday that Israel was ready to walk off from the talks with Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly having decided to leave for Israel after midnight, only to stay at the talks later. This was seen by Palestinian observers as being mere negotiating tactics to gain leverage as the two sides deal with the details of a prepared text by the US that will bridge and codify what can be agreed upon by the two sides.

US State Department spokesman James Rubin said today that legal and technical experts are working on the "text" that is hoped to be signed by the two sides. Rubin reiterated, "our goal is to get as many of the interim issues" solved as possible in order to move to the "final status" talks. Rubin indicated that the difficulties arise from implementation issues in any agreement that would be signed, saying, "We are focused on implementation" and this is "where the rubber meets the road." Rubin said that the Israeli concern with the Palestinian charter, Palestinian prisoners in Israel and redeployment were dealt with.

The Oslo agreements between the Israelis and Palestinians stipulates an interim phase followed by final status talks. The interim phase, to be completed in three stages, deals with Israeli withdrawal from occupied Palestinian lands. The Palestinian and Israeli negotiations were stuck before the second stage withdrawal was implemented, and the current negotiations are combing this second stage along with the third stage withdrawal into one agreement. Later, the "final status" talks, which are not being dealt with at these negotiations ,will deal with such issues as the status of the city of Jerusalem, the status of Palestinian refugees scattered throughout the world, and the status of Palestine as a fully independent country.

Rubin described the negotiations that are in their eighth day as "excruciating," adding that when these current negotiations regarding interim agreements are done, "it will be more difficult in the final status (negotiations)."

US President Clinton said today that "the hardest decisions are now on the table" and encouraged the two sides to take the positive steps needed to finalize an agreement.

Previous Stories:
  What does security mean to Palestinian Salim Shawamreh?   (10/21/1998)
  Only a comprehensive Palestinian - Israeli agreement will be accepted   (10/21/1998)
  Pessimist Palestinians expect no breakthrough in talks with Israel   (10/20/1998)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search