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Hebron talks continue despite shrine security snag
December 29, 1996
Web posted at: 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT)JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Talks on Israeli troop redeployment in Hebron hit a new snag Sunday, but a deal between Palestinians and Israelis was still expected by the end of 1996.
Palestinian officials said Yasser Arafat was insisting on shared security for a shrine at the heart of Hebron, The Tomb of the Patriarchs (known to Palestinians as Ibrahimi Mosque). The site is revered as the burial place of several biblical figures and considered holy by both Jews and Muslims.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly rejected the demand Sunday. He also told a group of U.S. college students visiting Jerusalem that Jews would never leave the West Bank city where they have lived for 2,000 years.
Netanyahu speaking about Hebron redeployment
"Jews will stay..."
(200 K / 17 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)
"The Jewish people are staying," the prime minister said. "The Jewish people are not leaving Hebron."
Palestinian negotiator Hassan Asfour said Netanyahu's stance "negates the spirit of peace, and the spirit of the accords."
"Any Israeli existence, whether military or of settlements, is temporary, until the permanent arrangement is achieved," he said.
Arafat was scheduled to meet with Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai on Sunday evening to work on some of the remaining divisive issues, and U.S. peace envoy Dennis Ross, who jump-started this most recent round of talks, is expected to return to the Mideast Monday.
Arafat briefed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the status of the negotiations Sunday morning, and Israeli army radio said the Palestinian leader would meet with Netanyahu to discuss the Tomb of the Patriarchs later this week.
David Bar Illyan, Netanyahu's media adviser, said Saturday an agreement was expected to be signed "in the next day or two."
All's not quiet on West Bank
As negotiators met again on Sunday to continue their talks, Israeli troops rounded up several Palestinians suspected of tossing two Molotov cocktails at a Jewish settlement in Hebron. There were no reports of damage or injuries.
Talks over the troop redeployment in Hebron broke down over the issue of security for some 400 Jewish settlers in the city of more than 100,000 Palestinians. Israel's previous government had agreed to the redeployment, but delayed it last spring after Islamic militants carried out a series of suicide bombings in Jerusalem.
The redeployment was delayed further after the election of hard-liner Netanyahu as prime minister.
A resolution on Hebron could spark talks on other controversial issues in the region, such as future settlements, refugees, the division of Jerusalem, and borders.
Egypt's Mubarak even speculated that a successful deal on Hebron could clear the way for talks with Syria. Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara was skeptical, saying that it was possible Israel was only seeking to improve its image by holding the Hebron talks.
"The other theory is that after finishing off the question of Hebron, Israel will go into a serious process toward resuming negotiations on all tracks, that is on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks," the minister said.
Syria insists on a return of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in 1967. Netanyahu rejects that possibility.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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- U.S. mediator sees Hebron deal on near horizon - December 25, 1996
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