Three way summit falls through -- for today
Palestine-Israel-USA, Politics, 12/14/1998

Today after US President Bill Clinton attended the Palestinian National Council session during which the Palestinians reconfirmed the annulment of 28 articles in the Palestinian National Charter that refer to the destruction of Israel, circumstances looked as though they would bring about a meeting between the Palestinian, Israeli, and US leaders, but the plans for the meeting fell through after the PNC meeting ended.

After Palestinian President Yasser Arafat made his speech and the Palestinian National Council amended the charter with a show of hands, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went ahead with his statement that he was satisfied on the question of the Palestinian charter while the meeting went on. However, Clinton surprised him with the content of his address, which came directly after the vote.

A number of Israeli officials saw Clinton's address as hostile to Israel, and unprecedented in terms of expecting not only identification but sympathy for the Palestinians.

After it was over and Clinton returned to Jerusalem, where the Israelis and Americans discussed the agenda of the possible three-way meeting, but Netanyahu was angry about the fact that Clinton equated the suffering of Palestinian children of prisoners and Israeli children whose parents were killed by Palestinians. Netanyahu said that he cannot compare between victims and assailants at the same time and that such a comparison is not acceptable to Israel.

The fact that Clinton also spoke of Jewish settlements, the Israeli closure of Palestinian territories, and the hardship of the Palestinians and the fact that Netanyahu issued his statement of satisfaction without waiting for the end of the PNC meeting apparently upset Netanyahu's Cabinet members who met in a meeting after the PNC session. Pressure from his ministers is why Netanyahu changed his mind about attending the planned meeting tonight.

There will not be any more meetings tonight. Clinton's original schedule called for him to visit Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity as well as Masada tomorrow, but space will be added so he can meet with Arafat and Netanyahu at 8 a.m., a meeting that will occur according to an Israeli official statement. Netanyahu called US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and told her he is available for the meeting tomorrow morning. With this announcement there is little chance that the meeting will not take place.

Previous Stories:
  Clinton addresses Palestinian National Council as charter is amended   (12/14/1998)
  A view from Gaza   (12/14/1998)
  On the meeting of the Palestinian groups in Damascus   (12/14/1998)

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