POLITICS-MIDDLE EAST: Albright Issues Ultimatum To Netanyahu

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Deborah Horan

LONDON, May 5 1998 (IPS) - A visibly frustrated U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright Tuesday issued an ultimatum to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu — to accept a U.S. proposal for a 13 percent troop withdrawal from the West Bank lands his forces occupy.

Speaking to reporters after two days of talks in London failed to clinch agreement on the size of the long-overdue Israeli withdrawal, Albright gave the Israeli leader until Monday to accept the unofficial American initiative.

Otherwise, she said, the U.S. “will have to re-examine (its) approach to the peace process”.

Should both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders accept the U.S. initiative, U.S. president Bill Clinton is prepared to host a meeting next week to launch accelerated negotiations on a final peace deal, she said.

But she made clear that attempts by Netanyahu to find a compromise that involved turning over less than 13 percent would not satisfy Washington enough to warrant a meeting at the White House. Until now, Netanyahu has offered only nine percent, while Israeli officials said he was quietly considering eleven percent.

“The invitation to the Washington meeting is on the basis of those ideas and watering them down is not in the works,” Albright said. “We have a strategic opportunity to put the peace process back on track and we cannot afford to lose it.”

Netanyahu, under pressure from right-wing lawmakers at home who have threatened to topple his government if he cedes more than nine percent, continued to cite Israeli security concerns as the reason that 13 percent was out of the question.

“The difficulty arises from a very simple point: we cannot compromise on Israel’s security,” Netanyahu told reporters after Tuesday’s meetings. “We have not resolved the territorial issue of the further redeployments.”

Albright characterized the Israeli leader as “creative and helpful”, but challenged his contention that Israeli security concerns were behind his conservative government’s refusal to offer to hand Palestinians more than nine percent of the West Bank. The U.S. ideas “are fair and balanced… and do not threaten Israel’s security,” she said.

The U.S. initiative involves a methodically scheduled Israeli handover of 13 percent of West Bank territory over a twelve week period and a specific timetable for increased and verifiable measures to be adopted by Palestinians against militant Islamic opposition.

Palestinian president Yasser Arafat has already accepted the U.S. initiative — and by extension, the invitation to next week’s White House meeting. Netanyahu headed for Israel Tuesday to confer with his cabinet on whether to accept the U.S. initiative. Two of his top negotiators stayed in London to continue mid-level talks.

“We’ve worked very hard here on a very broad set of issues,” Netanyahu told reporters before flying to Israel. “We’ll continue to work with equal vigour on all sides. We’re certainly prepared to do so and I hope that we can move the peace process forward.”

U.S. officials were reportedly sceptical that Albright’s deadline would prompt Netanyahu to yield to U.S. demands. Analysts said Netanyahu may be banking on a strong American Jewish lobby to keep the pressure off.

Last month, 81 Congressmen sent a letter to Clinton asking him not to pressure Israel into ceding territory; any pressure could hurt vice-president Al Gore’s bid for the presidency in 2000.

And should the deadline pass, the U.S. options may be limited. Albright said Tuesday that U.S. mediators would not abandon their role as facilitators of the peace talks. A more immediate option might be to make official the U.S. initiative, which has so far been discussed as an unofficial plan, a move Palestinians favour.

“The Palestinians would like to see the U.S. make its initiative public as a way to pressure Israel into accepting it,” said Adel Darwish, a political analyst and journalist in London who has written several books on the Middle East.

As Israel’s main ally, the prospect of strained relations with the U.S. might help nudge Netanyahu toward accepting the initiative.

But on Tuesday, Netanyahu appeared unapologetic. “If I’m satisfied Israel’s security is protected, then we can close the gaps,” he said.

In addition to concrete Palestinian steps against Islamic militants, Netanyahu reportedly is demanding guarantees that Arafat will not unilaterally declare a Palestinian state when interim agreements expire in May 1999 and promises from the U.S. that any agreement will not include a ‘time-out’ in Israeli settlement building on the West Bank.

Arafat has threatened to declare a state next year if negotiations fail to produce a final peace agreement on the status of the West Bank and Gaza. A time-out in Israeli settlement building — long a Palestinian demand — is reportedly part of the U.S. initiative.

Following Tuesday’s meetings, Arafat said that “some progress” had been made, apparently on the release of Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails, the final security arrangements at an airport in Gaza and an industrial park there that would ease Palestinian unemployment.

“I have heard today that there is some progress,” Arafat, looking frail and shaking badly, said. “I hope as soon as possible to see this progress in reality.”

But the Palestinian leader added that negotiations were “still facing obstacles from the Israeli side”. His top negotiators went a step further, accusing Netanyahu of intentionally stalling.

“After details of the U.S. proposal have been known for three months (and) Albright’s initiative has been going for eight months, Netanyahu still says that he came (to London) without authority from his cabinet and has to get back to Israel for a decision,” said Palestinian negotiator Nabil Sha’ath. “What did he come to London to do — go shopping?”