JERUSALEM, Nov. 9 (JTA) – Amid all their other differences, Israel and the Palestinians could not agree on the value of last week’s talks near Washington. Foreign Minister David Levy said Sunday that progress had been made in the discussions, telling Israel Radio, “There was no breakdown.” But Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat charged that no real progress had been made during the four days of talks. Palestinian officials were said to be planning to press their call for a special U.N. General Assembly session this week to address continued Jewish settlement construction. Arafat’s stance contrasted sharply with that of his deputy, Mahmoud Abbas, who participated in the Washington talks. Abbas called the talks “a very good beginning” after meeting last week with Levy. “We did not reach an agreement, but we found a good deal of understanding.” The Israeli daily Ha’aretz, citing political sources in Jerusalem, reported Sunday that during last week’s talks, Levy said Israel would consider suspending building projects that have not yet begun during six to nine months of accelerated permanent-status talks. The Palestinians conditioned their agreement to these terms on there being a prior agreement regarding the scope of Israeli redeployments from rural areas of the West Bank, according to the sources. The question of a “timeout” in settlement building would be raised during a meeting scheduled for later this week in London between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Ha’aretz reported. Albright will also meet later this week with Arafat in Geneva. The talks last week focused on issues still unresolved from the 1995 Interim Agreement, including a Palestinian airport and seaport in the Gaza Strip, a safe passage route for Palestinians traveling between Gaza and the West Bank, and the creation of an industrial park at the Karni crossing between Israel and Gaza. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were scheduled to continue their meetings on these issues this week in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Israeli officials have downplayed the significance of Netanyahu’s not meeting with President Clinton next week when the premier travels to the United States to address the annual meeting of the Council of Jewish Federations. Last week, the officials were quoted as saying that the Clinton administration had made it understood that a meeting between Netanyahu and Clinton would depend upon whether progress was made in the Israeli-Palestinian talks. But Levy told the Cabinet on Sunday that U.S. officials had not refused a meeting, and that speculation over whether one would take place was blown out of proportion.
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