WASHINGTON — President Bill Clinton wants to arrange a summit with
Israeli and Palestinian leaders in an effort to head off plans by Yasser
Arafat to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state next month.
U.S. and Israeli officials said Clinton has raised the proposal with
both Palestinian Authority Chairman Arafat as well as Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Barak. Clinton has spoken to both men nearly daily during the current
mini-war in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Clinton wants to schedule a summit for Nov. 16, after the presidential
elections and renew talks on final status issues such as the future of
Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees. The U.S. president hopes that the summit
and the continuation of the issues discussed at Camp David in July will stop
Arafat from declaring a state, Middle East Newsline reported.
White House officials said the summit could only work if the violence
ends in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "If we see progress in those areas,
then you open the door to the possibility of moving back towards the
political process, and in that context, the president raised the possibility
of having the chairman [Arafat] and the prime minister come separately to
Washington," White House spokesman P.J. Crowley said. "At this point, it's
only a possibility."
The officials said Clinton and Barak agree that Arafat plans to declare
a Palestinian state on Nov. 15, the anniversary of the PLO declaration of
statehood in 1988 during its summit in Algiers. Such a move, the officials
said, would prompt an Israeli annexation of portions of the West Bank and
Gaza Strip.
On early Wednesday, Barak and Clinton discussed the prospect of a summit
during a telephone call. Barak was said to have told Clinton that Israel
will impose its plans for "separation" from the PA should Arafat declare a
state. Barak told Clinton that such a plan will protect the Jewish state
from Palestinian infiltration and attack but would not stop Palestinian
laborers and goods from entering Israel.
"Dissociation, whether economic, infrastructure-related, civilian or
social, is not only impossible, it does not serve Israeli interests," a
document on the Israeli plan released by Barak's office said.
PA officials have warned that the separation plan is meant to impose an
embargo on Palestinian areas and draw new borders without Palestinian
agreement.
Barak has told Clinton that Arafat, together with Egyptian support,
wants to resume negotiations with Israel after he changes the rules of the
negotiations. The PA chairman, Barak said, wants to first declare a state
and introduce other mediators in addition to the United States.
On late Tuesday, the House passed a resolution that blames the
Palestinians for the violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Earlier, the
State Department warned Americans not to travel to Israel because of the
danger of terrorist attacks.
"American citizens should exercise caution and avoid shopping areas,
malls, public buses and bus stops as well as crowded areas and
demonstrations," a State Department statement said.
