Clinton-Netanyahu ties under threat

WASHINGTON, May 11: After more than five years building a reputation as the best friend Israel ever had in the White House, US President Bil...

WASHINGTON, May 11: After more than five years building a reputation as the best friend Israel ever had in the White House, US President Bill Clinton now finds himself in an uncomfortable confrontation with its leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Much to the dismay of some US officials and analysts, who felt Washington had already gone the "extra mile" to accommodate the Jewist state in a land-for-peace deal with the Palestinians, Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright sent envoy Dennis Ross back to Jerusalem this weekend in yet another effort to reach agreement.

The administration expected success because otherwise "it would be Netanyahu who was making the break in the peace process," said one official who in advance credited Albright and Ross with "setting it up beautifully".

But the Ross mission — undertaken at Netanyahu’s request — was doomed almost from the start, with the Prime Minister’s spokesman rejecting a US proposal even before the American negotiator arrived in the MiddleEast.Three rounds of talks between Netanyahu and Ross proved the point.

The Prime Minister refused to hand over another 13 per cent of the West Bank to Palestinian control, which the Americans set as the benchmark for today’s Washington summit that would launch negotiations on a final Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has already accepted the US proposal, which would give his people less land than they expected and commits them to additional steps to combat terrorism against israel.

A senior US official reported that Clinton was trying to reschedule for later this month the Israel-Palestinian-US summit.Another senior official told newsmen: "Clearly, this issue is going to be decided by Israel in days, not weeks. Everyone (on the US side) has agreed this phase (of American mediation) is going to be concluded sooner rather than later."

Albright said in London last Tuesday that Netanyahu’s refusal to attend a summit under US conditions would lead the administration to"reexamine the way that we go about it."

Yesterday, US officials refused to define what that means, at least until Clinton meets Ross and Albright. One option under consideration is a speech by Albright laying out for the first time the behind the scenes maneuvering and who the US holds responsible for the 15-month long impasse.

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Meanwhile a top Republican said the US was wrong to issue an ultimatum requiring Israel to agree to withdraw from another 13 per cent of the West Bank to attend a US summit.

"I really question the competency of the administration’s policy," Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania said on CNN television yesterday. "(I don’t know) why Albright would make a public ultimatum to Israel to accept pre-conditions before coming to talks.

"The views that I have are ones that I’ve heard expressed all over Capitol Hill among Democrats as well as Republicans," added Specter, who sits on the key appropriations and judiciary committees.