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Netanyahu accuses Palestinians of creating 'crisis'

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Arafat invites diplomats to meeting

March 11, 1997
Web posted at: 11:40 p.m. EST (0440 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Palestinians Tuesday of creating a "crisis" because they disagree with Israeli troop pullouts and plans to build Jewish housing in East Jerusalem.

Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat angered Israel Tuesday by inviting diplomats from other nations to Gaza Saturday to discuss the issues.

"Every time we do something that is not, in their eyes, what they want, they don't say 'let's come to the table,' ... they immediately create a crisis," Netanyahu told CNN while on a visit to Moscow. (15 sec. /224K AIFF or WAV sound)icon

arafat

Responding to Arafat's invitation, U.S. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said the United States would be represented at the meeting by Edward Abington, the U.S consul general in Jerusalem. The Palestinian invitation also was extended to diplomats from Europe, the Arab world and Japan.

U.N. debate set

Also Tuesday, the housing dispute between the Palestinians and Israelis moved from the U.N. Security Council to its General Assembly.

The 185-member organization planned to begin debate Wednesday on the issue, despite Israel's warnings that any attempt to bring international pressure will threaten the shaky Middle East peace process.

According to Netanyahu, Israel is fulfilling its responsibilities under peace accords forged by the previous Israeli administration, while Arafat is violating the accords.

The Israeli prime minister said he had arranged for partial troop pullouts from Hebron, the release of suspected women terrorists from Israeli jails and allowed Palestinians to return to work in Israeli cities.

Meanwhile, he said, Arafat still hasn't amended the Palestine Liberation Organization charter to remove a clause calling for the destruction of Israel or made other changes.

Talks deadlocked

Earlier Tuesday, after a 2-hour meeting between Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy and Mahmoud Abbas, the No. 2 official in the Palestinian Authority, both sides admitted there were serious and substantial differences over how to proceed.

A Palestinian official said Arafat has suspended all contact with Israel except routine low-level meetings, such as joint security patrols in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Arafat has refused to take phone calls from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli officials confirmed.

Burns, however, said the United States is not aware of a breakdown in contacts between Israelis and Palestinians. Burns said there have been contacts in the last few days between the two sides.

The West Bank pullout decision, announced last week, disappointed the Palestinians, who expected a larger withdrawal as a reward for keeping the lid on protests against the decision to build a new Jewish settlement.

David Bar-Illan, an aide to Netanyahu, said Israel will not give up more West Bank land than the 9 percent planned for now, nor reverse a decision to build the neighborhood in disputed East Jerusalem.

Palestinian leaders had expected to take control of 30 percent of the West Bank in this week's planned pullback, the first of three to be completed by mid-1998.

Meanwhile, Jordan's King Hussein, the Arab leader closest to Netanyahu, bitterly accused the Israeli prime minister of turning Middle East peace into a "distant elusive mirage" with his policies. Hussein criticized the prime minister in a letter dated March 9.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.  

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