Will JORDAN'S "King" get involved??????
Jerusalem Post - 10/02/98
By HILLEL KUTTLER and DANNA HARMAN
JERUSALEM (October 2) - US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said yesterday that security is now the "critical issue" of the
peace negotiations and that part of her efforts in traveling to the region next week will center on gauging Palestinian compliance with
their security obligations.
Speaking during a telephone briefing for officials of American Jewish organizations, Albright said the measurements include
establishing a committee monitoring Palestinian incitement to violence.
Albright said she believes that the US has been able to narrow some gaps and that both parties want to reach a deal, according to
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, who
participated in the call.
Albright said she is "optimistic but realistic" about US efforts in the weeks ahead to broker an Israeli-Palestinian accord.
She added that she is "very concerned" by Wednesday's attack on IDF soldiers in Hebron that left 14 Israelis wounded, and said
that the Palestinian Authority will have to address the matter and apprehend the attacker, Hoenlein added.
"She said that [the Americans] expect performance," Hoenlein said.
Hoenlein said Albright also said she believes that there now is a "momentum, a dynamism" to the peace process.
Albright is scheduled to arrive late Monday night along with US special envoy Dennis Ross and meet with both Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chairman Arafat the following day.
No side trips in the region are expected. "This is a trip in preparation for the summit. Its focus is the Israelis, the Palestinians and
the gaps between them. There are no other players now," said a spokesman for the Americans.
Netanyahu told the cabinet yesterday that in all his meetings last week in the United States he had emphasized that any peace
made must be based on security and reciprocity, and that unilateral actions - such as a Palestinian declaration of statehood - were
to be rejected outright.
The prime minister also told the cabinet yesterday that in his meetings with Arafat he discussed the need for a commitment to an
"uncompromising war against terror," as a prerequisite for any deal.
Finally, Netanyahu stressed that, despite reports to the contrary, Israel has not yet agreed to the scope of the redeployment in its
details, although the "ten plus three" framework was acceptable in principle.
Arafat said in Cairo yesterday that he was not certain Netanyahu really meant business.
"I am not pessimistic or optimistic. My experiences with Netanyahu have shown me that I should be cautious because he has made
many promises to so many leaders ... which he did not keep," Arafat said.
Arafat said yesterday that this week's top-level talks in Washington have produced progress on a West Bank troop pullback.
And Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia said that during the meetings "the ice began to break" between Arafat and Netanyahu
who had not talked for a year.
Despite such guarded optimism, the Palestinians said they were skeptical that renewed US mediation would produce an elusive
redeployment agreement.
Asked whether the Washington meetings produced progress on a security agreement and special conditions for a nature reserve,
Arafat said "yes." He did not elaborate.
However, Arafat spokesman Nabil Abourdeneh, said differences on the character of the nature reserve remained. The Palestinians
insist that the restrictions on land use remain in effect only until May, the end of the five-year interim period of Palestinian
autonomy. Israel has not yet responded to that demand.
The ambassador to the US, Zalman Shoval, said yesterday that the upcoming Washington summit may be delayed by a week to
allow more time for reaching an agreement.
The summit had been tentatively scheduled to begin in the Washington area about October 15, the nearest workable date following
the conclusion of Succot and Simhat Torah. But conflicts with Netanyahu's schedule leaves scant time to allow for the type of
lengthier summit that might be needed, Shoval said.
In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, Shoval said that "there's a chance this whole thing might be postponed" until later in the
month, although the Americans prefer that it be held sooner. Shoval added that he will probably firm up the dates at a meeting today
with Ross.
But because Netanyahu will have to remain in Israel to launch an economic conference scheduled to begin next Wednesday, he will
be able to remain in Washington just over two days before returning to Israel in time to open the new Knesset session on October
19.
Still, Israel is not averse to the planned dates for the summit, if, the Americans estimate the window to be sufficient to conclude a
deal, Shoval said.
Also undecided is the venue for the talks. Shoval said that Camp David, the site of 1978 Israeli-Egyptian peace negotiations, has
been excluded but that a number of other locations are under review.
State Department spokesman James Rubin said that Albright would seek to close enough ground in those talks on areas where the
sides are close, so as to "try to limit the number of issues that need to be addressed when the two leaders come to the United
States for a meeting with the president."
At yesterday's cabinet meeting, a majority of ministers, led by Industry and Trade Minister Natan Sharansky and Defense Minister
Yitzhak Mordechai, voiced support for Netanyahu's direction. They also hoped that a deal would soon be concluded based on the
principles laid out by the prime minister.
Minister of Education Yitzhak Levy, on the other hand, criticized the prime minister, saying that Netanyahu should share the details
of security demands being made on the Palestinians with all ministers before anything is signed.
Levy and a number of other ministers demanded that the cabinet be briefed in detail about the status of security demands before
any US summits are held.
"This is a security paper worked out by the Americans with a small number of Netanyahu's associates," said Levy spokesman
Yitzhak Raat. "Most of the ministers have not seen it, and this is truly wrong. Netanyahu wants to get things done swiftly and avoid
details being leaked... but we want to be presented with the facts before they are a done deal."
Netanyahu, asserted Levy, needs to do some "real thinking," about the consequences of leaving his ministers out of the historic
decision-making process.
Despite Levy's veiled threats, it is almost certain that if and when Netanyahu brings the redeployment deal to the Knesset for
approval, he will get it.
The issue at hand thus remains: will an agreement be reached and what will it look like? A hint at the answers should emerge next
week during Albright's visit.
Albright's advance team is already in Israel, planning out the mechanics of her brief visit.
President Ezer Weizman said yesterday he was "a little bit more optimistic" about the chances of reaching an agreement with the
Palestinians, after being briefed by Netanyahu.
The two met privately over breakfast yesterday at Beit Hanassi, for the first time in three months.
"There are a lot of ifs... but it seems like matters are moving," Weizman told reporters.
Noting the upcoming summits in the US, Weizman said: "Now the big cannons have moved in and it will be as I had hoped for a
long time - a meeting of the type held in the past with the pressure of circumstances and the desire on all sides to reach
agreement... I left breakfast with an appetite for our next breakfast."
Batsheva Tsur and AP contributed to this report
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