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November 19, 1999/10 Kislev 5760, Vol. 52, No.12
Withdrawal postponed after Barak-Arafat parley fails
NAOMI SEGAL
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM - A planned Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank has hit a snag. Israel postponed its redeployment from an additional 5 percent of the West Bank, originally slated to take place Nov. 15, when Palestinian officials complained about some of the lands being turned over to them.
After negotiators for the two sides failed to overcome their differences about the redeployment maps, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat held a surprise meeting Sunday night, Nov. 14, near Tel Aviv - but they, too, were unable to reach agreement.
The dispute came as the U.S. Middle East envoy, Dennis Ross, arrived in the region in an effort to advance the peace process. Israeli officials were quoted as saying they believe the Palestinian Authority may have delayed agreement in hopes of securing a better arrangement as a result of Ross' intervention. But by Tuesday, after Ross held separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials, it was clear that he was not taking sides.
"The best place to sort out problems is by the parties themselves," he said. Ross added that it is Israel's responsibility to carry out the pullback.
Under the terms of the land-for-security accord signed in September in Egypt, Israel agreed to withdraw from an additional 18.1 percent of West Bank lands in three stages. In September, Israel transferred 7 percent of the West Bank to joint Israeli-Palestinian control. In the second stage, which was to be carried out this week, Israel was to transfer 2 percent of the land to sole Palestinian control and an additional 3 percent to joint control. On Jan. 20, Israel will hand over an additional 6.1 percent of the region.
The latest dispute centered on the area being transferred to joint control. Palestinian officials complained that the lands involved - located in the Judean Desert and designated by Israel to become a nature reserve - are too thinly populated. Instead, they are calling for the transfer of areas closer to land they already control - and with a more substantial Arab population. At issue is whether the Palestinian Authority has any say on which lands are turned over by Israel.
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