Now, Back To The
Peace Talks

U.N. Secrete?),
General Kofi
Anan and Iraqi
Prime Minister
Tariq Aziz talk to
reporters in Ba . , h-

The Clinton
administration
may call a
"timeout."

JAMES D. BESSER

Washington Correspondent

T

he Clinton administration
and the government of
Israeli Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu, at
odds over how to break the logjam in
the negotiations with the Palestinians,
are getting set for a new burst of activ-
ity — and new friction — now that
the latest confrontation with Iraq
appears to be over.
Most observers agree that the show-
down with Saddam Hussein has
changed the overall Mideast picture,
but nobody is quite sure what that
will mean when Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright and her peace
process team refocus their energies on
the stalled Israeli-Palestinian talks.
The widespread Palestinian demon-
strations — pro-Iraqi, anti- American
— inevitably will affect the way the
administration views the two sides,
although nobody expects radical poli-
cy changes.
"The peace process is based on con-
fidence," said one Israeli official. "The
widespread Palestinian support for

Saddam will make it harder for us to
move closer to what the Palestinians
want, and it will definitely erode con-
fidence in the Palestinians in Washing-
ton."
Palestinian officials say the adminis-
tration is readying new and even more
specific plans to resuscitate the talks,
punctuated with a threat to suspend
mediation entirely if Mr. Netanyahu
and Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat
refuse to move beyond posturing. The
core American plan includes a West
Bank redeployment of about 13 per-
cent in several phases, linked to Pales-
tinian compliance on security issues.
The Palestinians say that's too little
and Israeli officials have indicated they
will not go above 9 percent, in small
stages.
But sources in Washington say that
a sweeping new American plan is
unlikely, at least in the near future;
right now, they say, the administration
peace process team is talking about
"fine-tuning" the bridging proposals it
put on the table in January.
Administration officials say it's

highly unlikely Washington will pull
out of the negotiations entirely, but
they suggest a "timeout" is possible if
the impasse continues.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators
met at the home of U.S. Ambassador
Ned Walker-to discuss interim issues
such as the long-delayed Gaza airport
and seaport in an effort to generate
some confidence-building steps that
might ease the way to more compre-
hensive negotiations.
The apparently successful American
- muscle-flexing in the confrontation
with Iraq could result in more vigor-
ous intervention in the Mideast peace
process, according to some observers.
"Nothing has changed in terms of
what Albright would like to do," said
Jonathan Paris, a fellow with the
Mideast program of the Council on
Foreign Relations. "The administra-
tion is on course to be more pro-
active; the apparent resolution of the
Iraq situation may give them more lat-
itude. Nothing dramatic will happen
immediately." ❑

2/27
1998

39

