Chief Israeli negotiator resigns

JERUSALEM, Jan. 21 (JTA) — Dan Shomron has announced his resignation as the chief Israeli negotiator with the Palestinians. The former Israel Defense Force chief of staff said Tuesday that he had wanted to serve in the post until a Hebron agreement was signed. At a closed-door ceremony in Jerusalem last Friday, Shomron and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat officially signed a long- delayed agreement for the redeployment of Israeli troops from most of Hebron, capping more than three months of often tortuous negotiations. Days earlier, Shomron and Erekat put their initials on the accord after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat approved its terms at a late-night summit on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip.