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Hebron deal close but leaders unlikely to meet Tuesday
December 31, 1996
Web posted at: 9:45 a.m. EST (1445 GMT)From Jerusalem Bureau Chief Walter Rodgers
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Palestinian and Israeli negotiators neared agreement Tuesday on the Israeli troop redeployment in Hebron, but will likely have to wait for a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to finalize the deal.
Palestinian and Israeli negotiators were haggling over the few remaining points leading up to an agreement that could then be initialed by the two leaders. Formal signing would take place after approval by the Israeli Cabinet and Knesset, and the Palestinian Council.
A date and time for a meeting between Netanyahu and Arafat has not been set. Officials said originally that it could take place late Tuesday, but now say that is unlikely. Netanyahu's schedule is partially dependent on Knesset debates on his controversial austerity budget proposals.
Hebron is the last town in the occupied territories still under Israeli rule. Several rural areas are also still controlled by Israel. An agreement with the previous Israeli government called for Hebron to be handed over to the Palestinians nine months ago, but a series of suicide bombings caused Netanyahu to insist on better security for Jewish settlers.
The discussions over the Hebron agreement have reportedly resolved differences over the types of firearms Palestinian police may carry, and the size of the buffer zone separating Palestinian neighborhoods from the small Jewish colony in downtown Hebron.
"The agreement on Hebron has been concluded," said Palestinian Maj. Gen. Abdel-Razak al-Yahya. "The problem is what comes after Hebron."
Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai said that the agreement "is very close."
"In my view, it's a matter of hours, a day or perhaps two," he said.
Sources say a final meeting between Arafat and Netanyahu will be needed to finalize the deal on several fronts -- a Palestinian presence at the Ibrahimi Mosque, known to Jews as the Tomb of the Patriarchs; the dates of Israeli troop withdrawals from other parts of the West Bank; and release of about 5,000 Palestinians jailed in Israel.
Under the proposed agreement, Israeli troops will remain in 20 percent of Hebron to protect the 400 Jewish settlers who have chosen to live in the town of 100,000 Palestinians because Hebron is where the Biblical patriarch Abraham is buried. Abraham is revered by both Jews and Arabs as their common father.
Emotions are running high in Hebron over the pending deal. Israeli troops arrested 15 settlers as they attempted to break into an empty home in the Palestinian market area. The settlers are determined to lay claim to as much of Hebron as they can to expand the Jewish colony.
Palestinians resent what they see as the settlers' expansionist ambitions. Containing the settlers without removing them, and putting troops between the two sides, has been the focus of the Hebron agreement.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Special section:
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- U.S. mediator sees Hebron deal on near horizon - December 25, 1996
- Israelis evicted after seizing Hebron houses - December 25, 1996
- Netanyahu joins Israeli-PLO talks; Hebron deal may be near - December 23, 1996
- U.S. mediator tries to break Mideast deadlock - December 21, 1996
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