Israel is moving closer to accepting Jerusalem resident Faisal Husseini as the new head of the Palestinian delegation to the Middle East peace talks.
Such a decision would mark a dramatic reversal of Israel’s long-held insistence that the inclusion of Jerusalem residents on the Palestinian team is unacceptable because it would signal that Jerusalem’s status is negotiable.
In a weekend radio interview, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres pointed out that Husseini, who is formally the Palestinian delegation’s “chief adviser,” effectively heads the team, even though he is not allowed to participate directly in the talks.
Peres also argued that if Israel were to accept Husseini as head of the delegation, it would not mean that its policy on Jerusalem’s status had changed or was negotiable.
“Jerusalem will remain united as the capital of Israel under Israeli sovereignty,” the foreign minister vowed.
The Labor-led government’s apparent readiness to accept Husseini as head of the Palestinian delegation reverses the prior position that such a move would erode the ground rules for the talks, negotiated by the former Likud government, which bar the participation of Palestinian residents of eastern Jerusalem.
Although the government has not yet formally announced its position regarding a change in Husseini’s role, the proposed concession appears to be aimed at breaking the deadlock over the Palestinians’ refusal to return to the next round of peace talks, scheduled to start April 20 in Washington.
The Palestinians signaled some new flexibility on their part over the weekend, when Husseini, speaking from Tunis, told Israel Radio that the Palestinian delegation has dropped its demand that all of the nearly 400 Palestinian deportees in Lebanon be returned to Israel as a condition for their return to the talks.
A BREAKTHROUGH IN THE STANDOFF?
Husseini stopped short of giving an outright commitment to return to the talks. But his remarks signaled a breakthrough in a months-long standoff over the talks, punctuated by the recent upsurge in violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
The groundwork for a heightened role for Husseini apparently was laid last month between Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher. It was conditioned upon a prior Palestinian commitment to come back to the negotiating table.
At Sunday’s Cabinet meeting, Rabin had been expected to press for approving Husseini’s participation at the peace talks. But after the meeting, the Prime Minister’s Office had no comment on the issue.
Likud Knesset member Dan Meridor Sunday spoke for many in his party when he said Husseini’s presence on the Palestinian negotiating team would threaten the status of Jerusalem and the success of the negotiations.
He said Israel is reaching the limit of its capacity for concessions and any more could provoke a breakdown in the talks.
The Labor government doubtless will defend such a move by pointing out that Husseini has a second address in the administered territories.
The peace process also will be the focus of the meeting between Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, scheduled to take place Wednesday in the Egyptian port city of Ismailia.
Government officials have refused to comment on the details of the meeting’s agenda, but Rabin and Mubarak are expected to focus on proposals for autonomy in the territories.
In Washington, preparations for the peace talks are also under way.
Representatives of the Syrian, Lebanese and Jordanian delegations were expected at the State Department this week for consultations on the peace talks.
A Palestinian delegation visited Washington earlier for similar consultations.
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