kpa

Specifically Vague

Israel cabinet approves more land for peace, but with no
specifics anywhere in sight.

will draft a plan for a permanent
deal.
The Palestinians were not told
they would have to take it or leave it.
The resolution did, however, make
any evacuation conditional on the
Palestinians fulfilling their commit-
ments under last January's Hebron
agreement. These include deleting the
destruction of Israel from the
Palestinian National Charter, ceasing
hostile propaganda, waging war on
terror and handing over Palestinians
accused of killing Israelis.

But again, it's all deliberately
unspecific.
Netanyahu appealed to Arafat "to
or the time being, Israel
respond positively to the government's
Prime Minister Binyamin
suggestion and not miss an historic
Netanyahu has made peace
opportunity to advance the peace." The
— with his own disaffected
Palestinian leader did not reject it out
coalition. He's done it by gaining cabi-
of hand. He was reluctant to let himself
net approval to offer the Palestinians a
be blamed for the failure of the 1993
further West Bank withdrawal that is
Oslo accords. But his initial reaction
vague, qualified and conditional.
was to dismiss the offer as "another
But few Arabs and his Israeli polit-
attempt to evade the written agree-
ical opponents, let alone the U.S.
ments signed with the Palestinians."
government, are con-
Under those agreements, two of
vinced that he has
three "further redeploy-
advanced the prospects
ments" should already
of a wider peace.
have been completed.
That will depend on
Israeli opposition
whether Palestinian
spokesmen and Labor
leader Yassir Arafat calls
Party leader, Ehud
his bluff, and whether
Barak, scorned the cabi-
the other key players in C- 0
net decision as totally
this diplomatic game —
irrelevant. "It has noth-
the United States, Egypt
ing to do with the peace
and Jordan — give him
process," he said. "This
the benefit of the doubt.
government is like a
Is Netanyahu stalling
group of people sitting
again, or is he ready to
in a hot-air balloon
sacrifice more land for
playing chess with itself
more peace?
and then announcing
The recent cabinet
that it won 16-2."
resolution was skillfully
The more optimistic
crafted to appease a
of Israeli commentators
Construction workers look at a new Jewish settlement between Israel
maximum number of
and the West Bank.
welcomed the re-
ministers. Even the
endorsement of the
diehard Likud oppo-
principle of land for
nents of territorial concessions voted
In contrast to earlier Netanyahu
peace. Now, as one of them put it, all
for it, though some did not conceal
statements, the cabinet did not set a
that remained was to bargain over the
their assumption that Netanyahu was
time limit for Palestinian compliance.
price.
Nor did it specify how much land it
making Arafat an offer he couldn't
The popular columnist Nahum
accept.
would evacuate in the interim phase.
Barnea predicted that Netanyahu
In its action, the cabinet:
It did pledge to "take the necessary
would finish up with the worst of all
* Reiterated its commitment to at
steps to continue the existence and
options. "Against its will," he wrote
least one more interim withdrawal
strengthening of settlements in Judea
in the tabloid Yediot Aharonot, "the
before negotiating a permanent set-
and Samaria, steps to decrease fric-
Israeli government will found the
tlement.
tion between the populations in
Palestinian state — not as a neighbor,
* Stated a preference for going
Judea and Samaria and to increase
but as an enemy. Its size will be
the security of the Jewish and Arab
straight into these final-status talks,
determined not by strategic logic, but
residents."
but did not make it a co. ndition for
by pressure: the Americans and the
This falls far short of the American
an interim withdrawal.
Palestinians on one side and the
* Said that a committee, compris-
call for a "time out" on settlement
Israeli right on the other."
ing the prime minister, Defense
activity. Of course, in practice work
Israel's first directly-elected prime
has been suspended on the most
Minister Yitzhak Mordechai, Foreign
minister could still prove him wrong,
provocative project, Har Homa in
Minister David Levy and
but the options seem to be running
southern Jerusalem.
Infrastructure Minister Ariel Sharon,
out. ❑ .

ERIC SILVER
Israel Correspondent

F

O

Poverty Figures
Down Last Year

Jerusalem (JPFS) --- The number
of Israelis with incomes beneath
the poverty line decreased in
1996 for the second year in a
row, according to figures released
by the National Insurance
Institute.
The numbers showed that
some 44,000 fewer people lived
under the poverty line in 1996
than in 1995, including 27,000
fewer children.
The poverty line is 50 percent
of median available income.

Jerusalem (JPFS) — Knesset
Immigration and Absorption
Committee chairwoman MK
Naomi Blumenthal (Likud) rec-
ommended asking the prime min-
ister to send an envoy to meet
with Australian Jews and explain
the delay in prosecuting those
responsible for the Maccabia.h
bridge collapse.
Her comments were in
response to reports that a failure
to resolve the issue has angered
many Australian Jews and under-
mined their support for Israel.

Does Arafat
Have Parkinson's?

Jerusalem (JPFS) -- Claims that
Palestinian Authority Chairman
Yassir Arafat is suffering from
Parkinson's disease were denied by
his adviser, Dr. Ahmed Tibi, a

e

sotalotegist nt issued by Arafat's
A statem
gYnec
wife, Suha, charged that the spec-
ulations were part of an Israeli
propaganda campaign.
Neurologist Professor Avinoam
Rekhess of Hadassah-University
Hospital in Jerusalem said in an
Israel Radio interview that he sus
pects Arafat is suffering from the
disease. Rekhess said footage taken
of Arafat at a press conference in
Switzerland showed a marked
tremor in his lower lip and at
times his facial expression
appeared to freeze.

12/5
1997

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