News

Israel Hopes Move
Interests Palestinians

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Jerusalem (JTA) — Israeli
leaders are hoping a U.S.
decision to issue invitations
for a ninth round of Middle
East peace talks will bring
the Palestinians back to the.
negotiating table.
U.S. Secretary of State
Warren Christopher an-
nounced that invitations for
the bilateral talks, to take
place in April, will be issued
shortly.
Mr. Christopher made the
announcement in Geneva,
where he met with his Rus-
sian counterpart a day after
completing his weeklong
visit to the Middle East.
But the U.S. secretary was
evasive when asked if he had
a firm commitment from the
Palestinians to attend the
talks.
In Jerusalem, the Pales-
tinian negotiating delega-
tion issued a statement say-
ing that "while no final
agreements have been
reached, we are still engaged
in ongoing discussions and
hope to be able to solve
outstanding issues in the
near future."
Israeli Foreign Minister
Shimon Peres said Mr.
Christopher's *announce-
ment put the burden of
responsibility on the Pales-
tinians "to come back to the
reality of the situation" and
return to the peace talks.
The Palestinian statement
appeared to be more positive
than ones issued earlier this
week, which still demanded
a full resolution of the crisis
over the 415 Palestinians
whom Israel deported to
Lebanon in December.
Earlier this month, Israel
offered to take back 101 of
the deportees immediately
and the rest by the end of the
year. That plan was backed
by the United States but re-
jected by the Palestinians as
insufficient.
Israeli leaders reiterated
that no further concessions
on the issue would be made.
Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin said in Tel Aviv that
if the Palestinians are hop-
ing for changes in the
American-Israeli under-
standing, "they can forget
about it."
But Mr. Rabin emphasized
that, in accordance with the
plan, all deportees would be
allowed to return to the ad-
ministered territories by the
end of the year.
Israel Television reported
that the government is also

considering allowing Pales-
tinians who were per-
manently exiled years ago to
return.
But it said Mr. Rabin has
rejected a Palestinian de-
mand that Israel renounce
the future use of deporta-
tions as a punitive measure
against the Palestinians.
"I don't enjoy deporta-
tions," the prime minister
said. But he added: "If the
level of violence is reduced,
there will be no deporta-
tions."
Mr. Rabin expressed the
hope that the Americans and
the Russians would take the
necessary steps to reconvene
the peace talks and that the

The Palestinian
statement
appeared to be
more positive
than ones
issued earlier

fate of the peace process
would not be determined by
Palestine Liberation Organ-
ization leader Yassir Arafat.
Palestinian spokespersons
said they needed to get ap-
proval from Mr. Arafat and
the PLO leadership in Tunis
before agreeing to return to
the talks..
Mr. Christopher re-
portedly told Palestinian
leaders this week that he
regards the PLO as a group
with terrorist tendencies
and that the United States
presently has no intention of
reviving the dialogue with
the organization that was
begun in December 1988 and
suspended in June 1990.
A senior U.S. official
traveling with Mr.
Christopher told reporters
that the secretary bluntly
told the Palestinian delega-
tion about this American
position.
The official told reporters:
"We think the PLO is an
organization that is subject
to the terrorist label in the
sense that it is a part of an
organization with terrorist
tendencies."
The statements are
significant because they are
the first clear indication of
the Clinton administration's
stance on the PLO.