"In particular, the Palestinians are concerned that the proposed settlement would create Palestinian territorial islands separated from each other by Israeli territory and therefore not viable as a nation. They object to a proposed land swap that would allow some Israeli settlers to remain on the West Bank in exchange for land that the Palestinians claim is desert and a toxic waste dump."

NO DEAL FOR ARAFAT, CLINTON
By John Diamond

[Chicago Tribune - 3 January 2001]:
WASHINGTON: Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat conferred with President Clinton into the night Tuesday, seeking details on a U.S.-authored peace plan that could open the door to a final Mideast summit before Clinton leaves office.

There was no immediate sign of any imminent peace breakthrough. The first meeting was in the Oval Office and included Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, National Security Adviser Samuel "Sandy" Berger and negotiator Dennis Ross. The second meeting took place in the White House residence.

Afterward, White House spokesman Jake Siewert termed the gathering a "productive meeting" in which Arafat "specifically agreed to intensify efforts" to reduce violence in the region. Such pledges have been made before only to dissolve in more violence.

"Words don't matter here. Deeds do," Siewert said. "It will be very important that the commitments that were made translate into actions on the ground."

No announcements about further meetings emerged. Clinton intends to continue his Mideast diplomacy with Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak by telephone.

The Israelis and Palestinians had each displayed deep pessimism Tuesday that a deal could be reached in the next few weeks.

Barak told Clinton by telephone that a peace accord before Jan. 20 was "impossible" because of continuing violence. Palestinians used the same word in describing the chances of agreeing to a U.S.-backed deal that, in their view, condoned illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory.

With violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories intensifying, Arafat flew to Washington to question Clinton about the plan the U.S. president hopes will set the stage for a peace summit as early as next week. Clinton has only 17 days remaining in office.

Clinton returned Tuesday from a holiday break at Camp David, Md., the scene of last summer's failed summit. He did not answer reporters' questions but crossed his fingers when asked about his ongoing Mideast peace effort.

After meeting for more than two hours, including at least a half-hour alone with Clinton, Arafat left the White House abruptly and without comment but then returned late in the evening for another hour of discussion before leaving again. Clinton did not appear with Arafat at the door of the West Wing for a photo opportunity, as has been customary in past visits.

Without using explicit rhetoric, the White House has made it clear in recent days that Arafat is the obstacle to progress on peace talks. Clinton has devoted much of his energy in almost daily phone conversations with the Palestinian leader, pressing and cajoling in search of a breakthrough.

In a peace process that has worn out phrases such as "last ditch," "11th hour" and "make or break," Arafat and Barak confront a narrow window of opportunity for peace.

Once President-elect George W. Bush is sworn in, U.S. and Mideast officials predict a slowdown in Washington's efforts to broker peace as the new administration's foreign policy team deals with more immediate concerns, such as confirmation hearings for Cabinet appointees. And Barak, who staked his career on making peace, trails far behind his conservative opponent, Likud Party leader Ariel Sharon, in opinion polls leading up to Israel's national elections slated for Feb. 6.

At a news conference in Austin, Texas, Bush praised Clinton "for giving it the very best shot he can."

"He's a man, obviously, who is going to work up to the last minute of the last day of his administration," Bush said, adding, "I certainly hope it works."

The incoming administration appears to view Clinton's efforts as potentially removing one major foreign policy headache from its agenda.

Still, Clinton's almost round-the-clock efforts brought to mind President Jimmy Carter's desperate bid to free the U.S. hostages from captivity in Iran right up to the moment the inaugural motorcade arrived at the front door of the White House on Jan. 20, 1981. The hostages weren't freed until after President Ronald Reagan was sworn in.

Clinton is trying to arrange a summit meeting next week in Washington with Barak and Arafat in the hope that at least the broad outline of a comprehensive peace can be reached.

The proposal would give about 95 percent of the West Bank and Gaza to the Palestinians as the foundation of their state. A causeway, for use by Palestinians only, would link the two land blocks. Israel would retain sovereignty over the holiest site in Judaism, the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City. The Palestinians would gain sovereignty over the adjacent Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.

In a major stumbling block for the Palestinians, the U.S. plan supports the "right of return" of several million Palestinian refugees of Israel's 1948 war for independence, and their descendants, but says they may return to their "homeland," not necessarily to what is now Israel. The Israeli government proposes allowing only a limited number of Palestinians back into Israel; a wholesale return of Palestinians, Israelis argue, would threaten the Jewish character of the Israeli state.

Clinton's plan also outlines in vague terms an international security force that would deploy to the region to act as a buffer between Israelis and Palestinians.

In seeking a peace summit, the White House is fighting against an ever-shifting situation on the ground, with each day bringing new acts of violence.

The newest uprising erupted Sept. 29 after Sharon made a provocative visit to Jerusalem's Temple Mount, known to Palestinians as Haram Ash-Sharif, site of the Al-Aqsa complex. Since then, about 360 people, most of them Palestinians, have been killed.

On Tuesday, shortly before the Clinton-Arafat meeting began, Palestinians set off several bombs near Israeli army positions, prompting retaliatory firing in several locations that left one dead and seven wounded. Later, Palestinian gunmen ambushed Israeli motorists along a major highway between Israel and the West Bank, wounding two.

The possibility that Barak could be replaced by Sharon has led to speculation that Arafat is anxious to make a deal in the coming weeks on the assumption that no progress will be possible with the Palestinians' archenemy.

"I think Arafat is in a hurry," said Khalil Shikaki, a well-connected Palestinian political analyst and pollster. "He knows that the intifada could lead to a disintegration of the Palestinian Authority and that the American willingness to mediate also may not materialize again with the Bush administration."

Some Palestinian officials termed Arafat's visit with Clinton "decisive" to the prospects for peace, while others predicted no immediate breakthroughs prior to Thursday's meeting in Cairo of senior diplomats from Arab League member nations who have supported the recent Palestinian uprising.

Arafat arrived with a raft of questions for Clinton about a U.S. "bridging proposal" designed to lay the groundwork for a final peace settlement that would end the half-century of conflict.

"This proposal poses a number of serious problems," the Palestinians said in a list of concerns shared with other key Arab states prior to the Clinton-Arafat meeting. "The United States proposal seems to respond to Israeli demands while neglecting the basic Palestinian need: a viable state."

In particular, the Palestinians are concerned that the proposed settlement would create Palestinian territorial islands separated from each other by Israeli territory and therefore not viable as a nation. They object to a proposed land swap that would allow some Israeli settlers to remain on the West Bank in exchange for land that the Palestinians claim is desert and a toxic waste dump.

"It is impossible to agree to a proposal that punishes Palestinians while rewarding Israel's illegal settlement policies," the Palestinians said in their critique of the Clinton administration proposal.

The Palestinian questions go beyond these issues to cover virtually every point of the "final status" negotiations, including the disposition of the Jewish and Arab holy sites within the walled Old City of Jerusalem; the issue of the right of several million Palestinian refugees to return to their homes inside Israel; and the pace with which Israeli troops would withdraw from Gaza and the West Bank.

Barak's office issued a statement Tuesday outlining the prime minister's telephone conversations with Clinton.

"The prime minister made it clear that he has deep doubts over the seriousness of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's intention to reach an agreement that takes Israel's vital interests into account," Barak's office said. "Barak made it clear to President Clinton that Israel intends to continue concentrating on vigorous counterterrorist activity in the coming weeks and said that it will be impossible to sign an agreement within the next few weeks."

If Clinton can persuade Arafat to agree to a summit amid a halt to violence and a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian cooperation against terrorism, "we would consider the idea," according to Barak's office.