Netanyahu is back: conditional acceptance of 13% pullout

The whole situation seemed very negative since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has managed to prevent any progress in the peace process, said Palestinian negotiating team coordinator Hassan Asfour in his comments on the latest trip to the US by Netanyahu.

Netanyahu returned to Israel Monday afternoon amid conflicting reports on the outcome of his trip to the US.

Sources in Netanyahu's entourage claimed that during talks in Washington, Netanyahu agreed to a redeployment of 13 percent out of the West Bank only if the third phase redeployment was canceled. Sources close to Netanyahu said he has agreed on the 13.1 percent withdrawal but insisted it would be implemented in two stages and in return to Palestinian acceptance of his demands that included the full amendment of the Palestinian national charter and the extradition of Palestinians wanted by the Israeli government for their anti-Israel attacks.

But neither American nor Palestinian sources could confirm the existence of such an agreement. Officials in the US State Department and the Palestinian government have insisted on a number of occasions that the third redeployment should be carried out according to the signed interim agreements between the Palestinians and Israel. U.S. President Bill Clinton said today "It is important not to characterize" the talks, eluding to the meetings between U.S. secretary of State Albright and Netanyahu, and the meeting to be held between Albright and Arafat in London, adding that the parties involved are "working in earnest" on the issues.

But Asfour expressed disappointment at the U.S. administration and said that President Bill Clinton should have taken a tougher stand against the intransigent policy of the Israeli government. "Regretfully, the way the U.S. administration is now acting with Netanyahu is very lenient. A super power and a peace guarantor like the U.S. should deal with this kind of issue in a different way," he said. He said the lack of a unified Arab front in support for the Palestinian demands has led to the absence of an influential U.S. role in the peace process. "As long as the U.S. Administration does not feel the value of the Palestinian Arab political position, it will not act in a different way. Therefore, we should set our position and then move on to put an end to the foggy game that engulfs the U.S. - Israeli relations," he said.

Reports from Washington quoted U.S. informed sources as saying that if peace efforts the U.S. has been exerting fail in convincing Israel to accept the 13.1 percent redeployment, President Clinton will announce after two weeks the details of his initiative and hold Israel full responsibility for its failure. Netanyahu had said that there was a new way to reach an understanding with the US on the redeployment issue. He basically meant merging phases two and three into one and canceling the third phase. This is perhaps the reason his entourage claimed that the Washington talks have achieved some progress. Netanyahu hoped the US would buy his proposal and thus kick the ball back into the Palestinian court.

The lack of progress in the peace process and the latest wave of unrest in the Palestinian territories increased fears that the whole region is on the brink of a new wave of violence. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had warned of violence eruption if the deadlock in the peace process continues. In a television interview with the French TV5, Mubarak said that the whole region has reached a very serious deadlock in Palestinian - Israeli negotiations. "If we do not save the peace process, I am afraid that the deadlock will have very grave consequences. It might lead to terrorism, attacks abroad and violence in the Palestinian lands."

President Mubarak's assessment was shared by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's advisor on Israel affairs, Ahmed Tibi. Tibi appeared Sunday before a course of Israeli police commanding officers where he said that an Israeli rejection of the U.S. initiative is likely to bring about a wave of violence in the area. "If the Prime Minister rejects the American initiative, the political process will die, and I estimate that a wave of violence and instability will wash over the area," said Tibi. "There's great frustration and a loss of hope in the territories as a result of Netanyahu's policies." Despite the sharp differences of opinion, Tibi was applauded at the end of his talk. He even received a gift from the commander of the Police Academy.

Updated 2:10 pm U.S. Eastern time:

Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu denied he reached an agreement during his Washington talks on the implementation of the second phase redeployment in the West Bank at a scale of 13.1 percent. Speaking in a press conference upon his return from Washington on Monday night, Netanyahu said that in the course of his talks in Washington there were reports that suggested he had accepted the 13 percent scale of withdrawal in the West Bank. "Let me tell you, this is not true," he said.

But diplomatic sources in Israel said that Netanyahu had in fact accepted in principle the scale of 13.1 percent withdrawal of the Israeli troops in the West Bank "but he is apparently waiting to gauge the public's reaction before he goes public with his decision." Netanyahu, the sources said, wants first to check what exactly his coalition ministers think of the new agreement he reached in Washington because he had pledged he won't sign any agreement on the second phase redeployment before it is ratified by the government.

Netanyahu had reportedly forwarded a number of conditions through the US to the Palestinian government in return for the implementation of the second stage of withdrawal. Those included the amendment of the Palestinian national charter and the extradition of Palestinians whose names appear on a wanted list by Israel for involvement in resistance activities. Reports from London, where President Yasser Arafat and US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met Monday afternoon, said the Palestinian leader had rejected the Israeli proposal to cancel the third phase redeployment in return for Israel to implement the second phase at a scale of 13 percent.

Arafat had also rejected the other conditions noting that the Palestinian government had already amended the national charter and that Palestinians who are apprehended by the Palestinian government for their anti-Israel activities have stood trial before Palestinian courts. The Palestinians maintain that under the Oslo Agreements, once wanted Palestinian stand trial before Palestinian courts for anti-Israel activities, there is no room to extradite them to the Jewish state.

Within the right wing coalition government of Netanyahu, there is a strong opposition to the implementation of the second phase redeployment in the West Bank. Yet there are also ministers who had threatened to quit if the agreements with the Palestinians were not implemented.

The strongest opposition to the US-proposed 13 percent scale of withdrawal comes from national infrastructure minister Ariel Sharon who had pledged he would fight against any withdrawal beyond nine percent. But as long as no specific decisions are brought before the Netanyahu government, the final stand of those ministers remains ambiguous. However, should Netanyahu go ahead with the implementation of the second phase redeployment, he would find a parliamentary support from where he never expected.

The opposition Labour Party has been busy holding a number of meetings over the past few days to prepare for the situation in which Netanyahu stands on his own against the extreme right wing partners in his government. The Labour party is likely to provide Netanyahu with a security net that would prevent the fall of his government in a no-confidence motion at the Knesset, Labour sources said. The sources said the party chairman Ehud Barak has convened a meeting Monday with senior members of his party to examine their next step. The Labour leadership has discussed both the possibility of tacit support to Netanyahu in the Knesset or the possibility of going to early elections if Netanyahu decides to go ahead and as such loses the support of his own right wing coalition.