Israel, Palestinians renew war of words, delaying redeployment

JERUSALEM, Nov. 17 (JTA) – The two parties to the peace process have renewed their war of words less than a month after they signed a land-for- security deal at the White House. To the dismay of the United States, which brokered the Wye agreement, both Israel and the Palestinian Authority have returned to inflammatory rhetoric, threatening further delay in its implementation. The rhetoric from both sides heated up as U.S. Middle East envoy Dennis Ross was visiting the region to oversee implementation of the Wye accord. While cooler heads seemed to prevail by midweek, statements by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat threatening to use violence against Israel, and by Israeli Foreign Minster Ariel Sharon exhorting settlers to grab more West Bank land, revealed deeper problems that both sides will face. Even if the Wye accord is implemented – and the Israeli Cabinet was expected to give the go-ahead to a redeployment from the West Bank later this week – these problems are likely to resurface in the final-status negotiations. The accord, which ended a 19-month stalemate in the peace process, was expected to usher in a new period of Israeli-Palestinian cooperation. And in an effort to restore some spirit of cooperation, Arafat reiterated his commitment to the peace process at a news conference in Jericho on Tuesday. “We are protective of the peace process in the Middle East and all the peace agreements we signed with the Israelis,” Arafat said. “Peace is a Palestinian strategic choice, and any differences in the final-status negotiations, we stress that we want them to be solved by peaceful means through negotiations, and not in any other way.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Arafat’s remarks a “positive” development. “From my perspective, an important obstacle was overcome.” The obstacle emerged Monday when Arafat, addressing a gathering of Fatah members in the West Bank town of Ramallah, reiterated his intention to declare Palestinian statehood next May. The event was held to mark the Palestinian declaration of independence issued 10 years ago in Algiers. In addition to reiterating his vow to declare a Palestinian state, Arafat told the Fatah members, “Our rifles are ready, and we are prepared to use them against whoever tries to prevent us from praying in Jerusalem.” Reacting to Arafat’s comments Netanyahu announced, just as the Knesset began debating the Wye agreement, that he was suspending a West Bank redeployment slated for this week. The Wye accord calls for an Israeli pullback from 13 percent of the West Bank in exchange for a Palestinian crackdown on terrorism. The Knesset was expected to support ratification of the accord and the pullback was expected to take place by week’s end after the Israeli Cabinet met again, on Wednesday, to evaluate the most recent Palestinian statements and actions. Both Arafat and Netanyahu face strong internal opposition to the Wye accord, and their respective declarations can well be viewed as an attempt to soften that opposition. In recent weeks Arafat has faced growing criticism – not only from Islamic fundamentalist groups such as Hamas, but also from within his own Fatah organization, the main body in the Palestine Liberation Organization. “Arafat’s standing among his own people has been weakened” by signing the Wye accord, Wadia Abu-Nassar, of the Open University in Tel Aviv, said in an interview. “He must make overtures toward the extremists, and direct an accusing finger toward the Israelis, in order to tell his people, ‘Don’t worry, I have not deserted you.’ ” But apart from attempting to placate his own opposition, Arafat’s address was also a deliberate reminder that the Wye accord did not amount to any compromise on one of the ultimate Palestinian goals – an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital. Speaking at the opening of the Knesset debate, Netanyahu blasted the Palestinian leader for heating up the political atmosphere with his declarations. The premier said Arafat’s remarks were a “clear threat, not only to force the final status agreement on us, but to do so with violence. It is a dual violation of the agreements. “I do not intend to carry out any redeployment, including the first phase this week, until the matter is resolved,” Netanyahu added. Palestinian officials charged that Netanyahu had misunderstood Arafat’s remarks and that the self-rule authority remains committed to its decision to pursue peace. “He did not mean guns in the literal sense,” Palestinian official Ziad Abu Ziad told Israel Radio. “He was talking about Palestinian rights to Jerusalem.” Meanwhile, Dr. Ahmed Tibi, an adviser to Arafat, charged Israel with contributing to the inflammatory atmosphere. Tibi cited comments made by Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon, who said Jewish settlers should grab as much West Bank land as they can to keep it from the Palestinians. “Whatever is seized will be ours. Whatever isn’t seized will be in their hands,” said the hawkish Sharon, who championed Jewish settlement in areas captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. Sharon had warned that if the peace process continues to deteriorate, a free-for-all would develop in which in the West Bank would be up for grabs. Further inflaming Israeli-Palestinian tensions was the announcement last week that Israel was inviting bids for the construction of 1,025 housing units in at Har Homa in southeastern Jerusalem. The lengthy deadlock in the peace talks, which the Wye summit broke, began in March 1997 after Israel announced plans to construct the Jewish neighborhood. American officials have their hands full with what looks like two less-than- willing partners to the peace process. In Washington, State Department spokesman James Rubin criticized the comments issued from Israel and the Palestinian Authority. “There is no place in this process for statements which call for or suggest violent actions. These remarks were wrong. And we will be raising them directly with Chairman Arafat,” Rubin said. But at the same time, he had little sympathy for Netanyahu’s announcement postponing the redeployment. “We expect both parties to abide by the agreement they signed, which did not include conditions about subjects like this,” Rubin said. “The Israelis and the Palestinians signed a document at the White House which imposed certain obligations on them, and those obligations did not come with conditions about every word that was said by every party.” Using language that echoed what he said about Arafat, Rubin also criticized Sharon’s “land grab” statement. “It is absolutely essential that the right kind of environment be created for permanent-status negotiations,” Rubin said. “Statements such as the one made by Foreign Minister Sharon undermine the trust and confidence necessary for such an environment. And we will be raising this statement with the Foreign Ministry directly.” (JTA correspondents Gil Sedan in Jerusalem and Matthew Dorf in Washington contributed to this report.)