Albright gives Israel 10 days to develop `credible’ proposal

JERUSALEM, Dec. 7 (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has less than two weeks to develop what the United States calls a “credible” plan for redeploying from the West Bank. U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said she plans to meet again with Netanyahu in Europe as early as Dec. 17. American officials said Albright expects at that meeting to hear details on the scope of the redeployment. Albright, who is pressing for progress in the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, met separately in Europe over the weekend with Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. After holding what she called “useful and constructive discussions” with Arafat on Saturday, Albright returned to Paris for a second, previously unscheduled meeting with Netanyahu. The Israeli leader convened senior ministers after returning to Israel on Sunday to discuss the principles of a redeployment in the West Bank. Netanyahu’s Cabinet approved a conditional redeployment last week, pending Palestinian agreement to begin accelerated final-status talks and to fulfill their commitments under the Oslo accords. But the Cabinet decision did not specify the extent of the redeployment, and a ministerial committee was set up to work out details of the pullback. U.S. officials warned that they would not work to convince the Palestinians to accept Israel’s proposal if the scope of the redeployment is too little. Under the Interim Agreement, Israel was to carry out three redeployments in the West Bank. The first phase was rejected in March by the Palestinians because Israel would relinquish about 2 percent of the West Bank territory. That redeployment was never implemented. Earlier this year, media reports said Netanyahu was considering a redeployment of about 6 to 8 percent. The Palestinians have said they expect to assume control over at least 30 percent of the territory in each of the three phases of redeployment. Arafat, who on Sunday briefed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on his talks with Albright, was quoted as saying that he was “encouraged” by the American position and that he believed the United States would demand a “substantial” pullback by Israel.