Netanyahu to Meet Clinton Without Decision on West Bank Handover

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with US President Bill Clinton in Washington this week without a decision on how much of the occupied West Bank Israel is willing to hand over to the Palestinians in another troop redeployment. The Israeli Cabinet, in a move aimed at giving Netanyahu maximum flexibility in his negotiations with Clinton, voted to postpone a decision on the scope of a pullback until Netanyahu's return. The decision is seen as a pivotal moment in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which has been stalled for months.

Key Takeaways:

• The Israeli Cabinet voted to postpone a decision on the scope of a troop redeployment in the West Bank until Netanyahu's return, giving him maximum flexibility in his negotiations with Clinton.
• Netanyahu will offer either a double-digit pullback or two, more limited pullbacks in exchange for canceling the third redeployment and moving directly to final peace negotiations.
• The Israeli government is making a pullback conditional on the Palestinians' compliance with their commitments under the peace accords, including a consistent crackdown on Islamic extremists opposed to the peace process.
• Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat rejected Israel's declarations, saying that who can accept the Israeli conditions.
• The Palestinian government has said that Israeli declarations prove that Israel does not intend to carry out further redeployments or to revive the moribund peace process.
• Netanyahu will meet Clinton in Washington this week, while Arafat will hold his own White House talks with Clinton on Thursday.
• The Clinton administration has been pushing for a significant pullback from at least 10 percent of the occupied lands.

Statistics:

• The Israeli Cabinet voted to reiterate its decision of last week, making a pullback conditional on the Palestinians' compliance with their commitments under the peace accords. (Source: Text)
• The resolution listed about 50 steps the Palestinians ''must take'' before Israel will withdraw further. (Source: Text)
• A double-digit pullback would be equivalent to 10-20% of the occupied lands. (Estimated)
• Two, more limited pullbacks would be equivalent to 5-10% of the occupied lands. (Estimated)

Sources:

• Los Angeles Times article by Marjorie Miller, "Netanyahu to Meet Clinton Without Decision on West Bank Handover"
• Israeli Cabinet meeting minutes (Source: Text)