Israeli Cabinet eludes decision on scope of West Bank pullback

JERUSALEM, Dec. 14 (JTA) — The Israeli Cabinet has still made no decision about how much West Bank land to relinquish. Faced with American pressure for a “credible” redeployment in the West Bank, the Cabinet discussed various proposals Sunday as the clocked ticked down toward a meeting later in the week between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. U.S. officials have reportedly told their Israeli counterparts to transfer now at least 12 percent of the West Bank. Netanyahu has suggested a handover of 6 percent to 8 percent, but last week Israeli media reported that the three ministers closely conferring with Netanyahu on the issue — Foreign Minister David Levy, Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai and National Infrastructure Minister Ariel Sharon — have agreed to a map that would allow for a 12 percent redeployment. Palestinian officials have been demanding at least 30 percent more of the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority already controls about 27 percent of the area. The extent of the redeployment was expected to be raised in talks Sunday night between Netanyahu and Martin Indyk, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, who is currently on a tour of the region. The meeting with Indyk precedes Thursday’s talks scheduled to take place in Europe between Netanyahu and Albright. Levy reiterated Sunday that he did not expect Netanyahu to go to that meeting with “empty hands.” The Cabinet was slated to reconvene Tuesday to continue its discussions prior to the Netanyahu-Albright meeting. At Sunday’s session, Mordechai and Sharon presented competing proposals reflecting Israel’s security interests. Sharon has pressed for delineating Israel’s security zones before the final-status negotiations with the Palestinians begin, while Mordechai has opted for setting more general guidelines. Both ministers believe that the government should have a clear conception of Israel’s final borders before making a commitment regarding a further redeployment in the West Bank. Absorption Minister Yuli Edelstein said Sunday that the gaps between the two approaches appeared to be narrowing. “My feeling is that the differences were not so significant. What I hope will happen in the next meeting is that the maps will be made on the same scale, so it will be easier to compare the two versions,” he told Israel Radio. The Cabinet meeting came a day after Netanyahu said that Israel would not “commit suicide” in order to please the Americans. “Discussion on the permanent-status arrangement is fateful for the future of the country, and it is the people of Israel — not the Americans or the Europeans — who have to live with it,” Netanyahu said in a statement released Saturday night.