Israel appears largely satisfied with what has been accomplished in the five rounds of bilateral talks with its Arab negotiating partners that have taken place over the last six months.
Though the gulf between Israel and the various Arab parties is still wide, the two sides have gotten beyond the procedural haggling that characterized the first few rounds of talks and have begun to grapple with substantive issues.
The Israelis are probably most satisfied that this week’s talks, which ended Thursday, was the last round to be held in Washington, where there have been four rounds after the opening sessions in Madrid.
Israel had long sought to move the site to the Middle East or at least closer to the region to lower the media spotlight on the talks and to prevent the Arabs from believing they would get U.S. help in pressuring Israel to accept their positions.
Israel, the Palestinians, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon all have agreed that the next round should be in Rome.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli negotiating delegation’s spokesman, said Israel would be pleased if the talks were kept behind closed doors without any press-briefings such as there were in Washington.
While the atmosphere here this week was improved over the previous four rounds, Israel and the Arabs continued to make harsh statements about each other, although much toned down from previous rounds.
Netanyahu, who holds the rank of deputy Cabinet minister, said that the Arabs were much more forthcoming in the negotiating sessions than they indicated in public.
ISRAEL SUGGESTS CONVENING MAY 11
Netanyahu said Israel has suggested that the talks resume in Rome on May 11. But Hanan Ashrawi, spokeswoman for the Palestinian delegation, said the Arab delegations have not yet decided whether to accept the offer.
Ashrawi added that the Arab negotiators do not want to be used by Israelis trying to score political points at home in advance of the June 23 national elections.
Elections in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were the focus of the talks this week between Israel and the Palestinians.
Israel offered to allow the Palestinians to have “pilot” municipal elections as a first step toward control over their daily lives.
Israel also proposed allowing the Palestinians to control Arab hospitals in the territories.
Netanyahu repeatedly explained that these steps could be implemented as the negotiations for an overall autonomy arrangement continued.
But Ashrawi rejected the elections as irrelevant and said they should be held only after a self-governing authority is put in place.
What the Palestinians want is a legislative assembly. But the Israelis are only offering administrative and judicial powers, since they see a legislative body as the first step to a Palestinian state.
Ashrawi also dismissed Israel’s offer for Palestinian control of the hospitals in the territory. She said the Palestinians have controlled the hospitals since even before 1967.
Not so, maintained Netanyahu. He said that while the hospitals are staffed by Palestinian doctors and other medical personnel, the management is in the hands of Israel.
Ashrawi charged that what Israel wants to do is an “assignment of special tasks” to the Palestinians, rather than handing over full authority. She said Palestinians have always been offered jobs in the Israeli civil administration of the territories but have declined to accept them because this would be cooperating with the “occupation.”
While Ashrawi criticized Israel’s initiatives, she made clear that the Palestinians were not rejecting them outright and would continue to study them.
SYRIA CONSIDERING ISRAELI PAPER
Israel’s proposals for peace with Syria, Jordan and Lebanon were also being studied by those countries, Netanyahu said. He said that during the latest round, Syria for the first time agreed to look at an Israeli paper offering its proposals.
However, Syria continues to demand that Israel withdraw from the Golan Heights before it will discuss peace talks. Lebanon has taken the same position on Israeli withdrawal from the border security zone.
The talks with Jordan appear to be moving ahead the smoothest. Netanyahu said Jordan and Israel discussed elements of relations between neighbors in many areas. He said this “step-by-step” approach has shown the best chance of progress.
Netanyahu also expressed satisfaction that Israel’s talks with the Palestinians and its three Arab neighbors are all moving along on separate tracks, at different paces. He said before the talks began it was feared that the Arabs would coordinate their negotiations.
Meanwhile, Israel has sought to break the impasse over Palestinian representation at the upcoming round of multilateral talks on Middle East regional issues.
In the opening round of regional talks in Moscow in January, Secretary of State James Baker said Palestinians from outside the territories could attend the discussions on refugee affairs, scheduled May 13 in Ottawa, and on economic development, set for May 11 in Brussels.
Diaspora Palestinians have been barred from the bilateral talks, and Israel has threatened to boycott any multilateral talks in which diaspora Palestinians participate. Foreign Minister David Levy emphasized this when he met here with Baker on Tuesday.
But Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Zalman Shoval, offered a compromise that would allow diaspora Palestinians to attend as part of the delegations from the countries in which they live.
Ashrawi, however, rejected the offer Thursday, saying Israel cannot determine the composition of the Palestinian delegation.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
