Netanyahu could wreck peace effort
By Patrick Cockburn in Jerusalem
THE INDEPENDENT 10/07/1998
ISRAEL INTENDS to place permanent
buildings in one of the most
controversial Jewish settlements on the
West Bank, it announced yesterday, just
as Madeleine Albright, the US Secretary
of State, was seeking to bring Israeli
and Palestinian leaders together for a
summit in Washington later this month.
The decision to build at Tel Rumeida, a
small Jewish enclave in the Palestinian
city of Hebron, underlines the
confidence of Benjamin Netanyahu, the
Israeli Prime Minister, that President
Bill Clinton is in no position to put
pressure on him to carry out the next
phase of Israeli withdrawals under the
terms of the Oslo accords.
"Such decisions will kill the peace
process," said Saeb Erekat, the chief
Palestinian negotiator. "This is very,
very dangerous and we urge Mr Netanyahu
to revoke this decision for the sake of
the peace process."
Israel said the decision to build at
Tel Rumeida was taken after a settler
rabbi was stabbed to death in August,
but the timing of the move shows how
far Israel and the Palestinians are
from permanent peace.
Hours after the announcement James
Rubin, the State Department spokesman,
said he had asked for details of the
Israeli move. Mrs Albright had called
for a "time-out" on settlement
activity.
US officials were last night seeking to
arrange a three-way meeting today
between Mrs Albright, Mr Netanyahu and
Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader,
at the Erez checkpoint into Gaza, home
to one million Palestinians.
This would try to lay the groundwork
for a summit in mid-October in
Washington between Mr Clinton and the
Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
Israel and the Palestinians have agreed
on a 13 per cent Israeli withdrawal
from the West Bank but Israel is
demanding stringent security measures.
The Palestinians insist that these
should be reciprocal and also believe
that Mr Netanyahu uses security as an
excuse not to carry out the Oslo
accords of 1993 and the interim
agreement of 1995.
Mrs Albright was careful to lower
expectations yesterday, saying: "We
recognise that there are tough choices
to be made by each side, especially as
we approach the Washington summit."
The US administration is eager to
arrange a meeting which would allow Mr
Clinton to present himself as an
international statesman at a time when
his impeachment is being considered.
Mr Rubin said that the present US visit
to Israel did not expect to resolve all
issues, but to make a final agreement
in Washington.
Israel recognises that Mr Clinton is in
a weak position and that he is hungry
for diplomatic success. Nahum Barnea,
an Israeli columnist, said: "Clinton
needs the [signing] ceremony like
oxygen." Mr Netanyahu may also be under
some covert pressure from the
Republican party, where he has many
friends, not to hand Mr Clinton a
diplomatic triumph shortly before the
mid-term congressional elections.
