Envoy Ross focuses on security in talks with Netanyahu, Arafat

JERUSALEM, Aug. 10 (JTA) — The Clinton administration gave U.S. Special Middle East Coordinator Dennis Ross specific marching orders for his meetings this week with Israeli and Palestinian officials. President Clinton and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright “want me to focus on the security questions, and I will be doing that,” Ross said Sunday at a news conference here. “They recognize that there is a political dimension that has to be addressed, but they also understand that there is an essential security underpinning to the process.” Ross held separate meetings Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat in an effort to ease Israeli-Palestinian tensions, which were heightened by a recent double suicide bombing at a Jerusalem market that killed 13. Netanyahu welcomed the American focus on security, telling his Cabinet on Sunday that he had made clear to Ross that there could be no progress in the peace process until the Palestinian Authority cracked down on Islamic militants. But the Palestinian Authority called on Ross to widen the scope of his visit. “We cannot confine the talks to security issues. This means we will have no talks at all, because security is part of the overall peace process,” Palestinian Authority official Yasser Abed Rabbo was quoted as saying before Arafat and Ross met in the West Bank town of Ramallah. During that meeting, Arafat focused on the hardships caused by the sanctions Israel imposed after the July 30 suicide attack, aides to Arafat said. Arafat has repeatedly called on Israel to remove the sanctions, including a closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and the withholding of tax and customs revenues that Israel regularly transfers to the self-rule authority. Israel loosened restrictions on travel within the West Bank and Gaza Strip late last week, but has refused to ease the closure between the territories and Israel. Ross, who was slated to hold more meetings with Netanyahu and Arafat, also met Sunday with President Ezer Weizman. Palestinian sources said that American, Israeli and Palestinian officials would soon meet to discuss security cooperation. The Palestinian Authority suspended negotiations and cut off security coordination with Israel in mid-March after Israel began construction of a Jewish neighborhood at Har Homa in southeastern Jerusalem. There has been some limited cooperation since then on specific security issues, including the July 30 attack. But the Palestinians have yet to restore full security coordination with Israel on an ongoing basis.