Security Forces Easing Conditions in Territories, As U.S. Requested

The security forces are about to take several measures to ease tensions and improve the quality of life in the administered territories, in the hope of creating a better atmosphere in advance of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s visit to Washington next month.

The army already has scaled back the number of soldiers patrolling refugee camps in the Gaza Strip. It now plans to cut the overall number of troops deployed in the territories, and replace them with the smaller, and more efficient, border police units.

And in the next few days, authorities say they will begin gradually to reopen schools in the territories that have been shut down to reduce the level of violence.

These steps are being seen here as an Israeli response to indications from Washington that the United States would like to see improvements in the treatment of the Palestinian population as an incremental step to advance the peace process.

That message is expected to be conveyed in Washington this week to Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Arens and next month to Shamir himself.

The Americans appear to have changed their approach to the peace process, concentrating first on improving the atmosphere in the territories, rather than on seeking to win Israeli acceptance of an international peace conference.

In doing so, the Bush administration returns to the approach adopted by former Secretary of State George Shultz in his first days in office, when he demanded an improvement in “quality of life” in the territories.

RELEASE OF DETAINEES

The Israeli authorities at the time lifted several restrictions on the local population, but that was long before the Palestinian uprising. Now the policy toward the local population has hardened considerably.

Another indication that the Israelis intend to relax the atmosphere was the release this weekend of 24 prisoners from the Dhahiriya detention camp, near Hebron, known for its difficult conditions.

The release was a response to one of the main requests put forward by the Americans in recent days: the release of Palestinian prisoners, especially those who have been detained without trial under emergency regulations dating from the British Mandate.

The Americans also want the Israelis to lift the many economic sanctions taken against the population in response to drastic cuts in tax payments.

Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin denied over the weekend that the latest Israeli steps are a response to American demands. “We want to reduce the level of violence in the territories, regardless of what the Americans want or do not want,” Rabin told reporters.

The defense establishment describes the redeployment of the Israel Defense Force in the territories as meant to achieve two major goals: reduce the number of casualties and cut short the length of reserve duty.

Rabin indicated that reserve duty would soon be reduced from 65 to 44 days a year.

Under the reorganization of security responsibilities in the territories, the IDF will continue to be the ultimate authority, and border police units will continue to be subordinate to them.

However, the border police, which until now served mostly as an auxiliary force in the towns, will now be the main force there. IDF units will be placed outside the main population centers.

In an effort to reduce the role of the IDF as a police force, soldiers will be absorbed mainly with patrolling major roads and designated strongholds of the intifada. They will interfere in the towns only when needed to reinforce border police.