Arafat turns down Israeli pullback proposal

JERUSALEM, NOV 25: Yasser Arafat has rejected an Israeli proposal for a modest transfer of additional West Bank territory to his Palestinia...

JERUSALEM, NOV 25: Yasser Arafat has rejected an Israeli proposal for a modest transfer of additional West Bank territory to his Palestinian Authority, judging the offer insufficient, Israel radio reported on Tuesday. Yitzhak Molkho, an advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, presented Arafat late Monday with the proposal for Israel to hand over control of an additional six to eight per cent of the West Bank as part of a package deal to revive long-stalled peace negotiations, the radio said.

The pullback would represent the second of three troop withdrawals Israel is required under interim peace accords to carry out from West Bank rural areas by mid-1998. An Israeli proposal for the first redeployment in March concerning only two per cent of the West Bank was also rejected by the Palestinians.

The new proposal would combine the first two withdrawals, placing an additional eight to 10 per cent of the West Bank under Palestinian control, in exchange for a Palestinian agreement to enter accelerated negotiations on a final peace treaty and to forego the third promised troop pullback until the conclusion of those talks.

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Arafat rejected the offer during a meeting with Molkho late Monday in Gaza, the radio said, quoting Israeli officials. The Palestinians, who now have full control over major West Bank towns, or three per cent of the territory, say that under the interim peace accords they should rule at least 90 per cent of the West Bank by the time the parties enter the final status negotiations. The accords specify that Israel should withdraw during an interim period from all of the West Bank except Jewish settlements and “specified military zones”.

Netanyahu argues that the Palestinian Authority’s failure to crack down on armed anti-Israeli militants in territory under its control has undermined the original timetable.

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