Washington Palestinian - Israeli Talks
No immediate results are expected from the Washington talks, due to start Monday between PLO Executive Committee Member Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and Israeli Foreign Minister David but Palestinian sources said they would not be surprised if the US finally decides to exert some pressure on Israel to compel her to carry out the first and second phases of its troop redeployment in the West Bank.
Reports from Washington have spoken of mounting anger within the US Administration at the way Israel is handling the interim agreements with the PLO. In private talks with Jewish leaders held last week, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright severely attacked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israeli papers which carried reports of the meeting quoted Albright as saying: “How many times does Netanyahu think he will be able to fool us?” And then the papers said that Albright answered her own question: "Two or three times, no more.” The blunt tone reflects, according to political sources, the deep level of mistrust which the US Administration now extends toward Netanyahu.
Albright’s comments were made after the postponement of Levy’s scheduled trip to the United States and before he received cabinet instructions concerning talks with Abu Mazen. According to political sources, Albright has become Netanyahu’s staunchest critic in the US government. They said that AIPAC officials believe the US State Department has increased the tone of its criticism against Israel since Martin Indyk, the out-going US Ambassador to Israel, took up his post as the Secretary of State’s deputy for Middle East and North African affairs.
“Its just a waste of time” -- this is how the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat defines the political talks held in Washington. Arafat said over the weekend: “I’m not optimistic. David Levy is going to Washington, but he has no authority. He can hold talks all day long, but the Israeli Cabinet didn’t empower him to do a thing. He can conduct talks, but he cannot propose any solutions.”
The Palestinians insist that Israel should first carry out the first, the second and the third phases of its troop redeployment in the West Bank in their entirety before the final status talks are convened. The first phase of Israeli troop redeployment was in theory carried out by Israel in March but did not include the territories agreed upon in the interim agreements. The Palestinians noted that Israel's withdrawal had covered only a minor percentage of the area it was due to vacate by March 1997.
Levy will try to return to Israel without having made a commitment concerning the second-phase withdrawal, which in itself represents a Palestinian ultimatum and a source of concern for Israel that Washington might pressure Tel Aviv in order to compel it to accept a target date for the withdrawal. The date, should it is agreed upon, will be a few weeks right after the talks start on the final status.
The Israeli aim is to work out a deal with the Palestinians. As part of this deal, the sides would take up accelerated final-status talks, while agreeing to refrain from unilateral moves and Israel agreeing to reduce its settlement activity in the Occupied Territories. In exchange for these agreements, the second-phase withdrawal would be deferred, if not canceled. In parallel, Israel would promise to accelerate the implementation of Oslo Accord clauses that have yet to be implemented. From the American side, a general agenda for the talks has been worked out, yet the timetable and other details of the talks have yet to be released.