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Netanyahu calls for 'reciprocal' peace agreements

Netanyahu January 19, 1997
Web posted at: 3:10 p.m. EST (2010 GMT)

(CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday indicated that the Hebron deal represents a new era in Middle East peace accords -- one based on "reciprocity," not Israeli handouts.

Appearing on CNN's "Late Edition," Netanyahu said the days of Israel's "one-way giving" were over and that for peace to be accomplished all parties need to fulfill their ends of agreements.

"We have fashioned an agreement that says that the key to continuing the negotiations for peace is reciprocity," he said. "For the first time since the Oslo accords, we actually have the idea that these mutual undertakings have to be done mutually."



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Vivo interviews with Arafat and Netanyahu

(1:49 Vivo - Arafat after his return to Hebron)

(7:19 Vivo - Interview with Netanyahu on CNN's "Late Edition" after Arafat's return to Hebron)


Asked what he thought of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat's speech in Hebron Sunday, Netanyahu lashed out, saying the Palestinian leader went too far when he vowed to push for a Palestinian state and to establish a capital in Jerusalem.

"He knows that we will never allow Jerusalem to be ever redivided again," Netanyahu said. "We'll never allow a Berlin Wall to be struck in the center of the city."

However, Netanyahu applauded Arafat's conciliatory words to Jewish settlers who remain in Hebron and suggested settlers and Palestinians hold meetings that would help establish a peaceful co-existence.

Under the Hebron agreement, 80 percent of the city was handed over to Palestinian control early Friday. Israel retains control of 20 percent of the city where some 400 settlers live amid more than 100,000 Palestinians.

Peace talks with Syria

Netanyahu also said he hoped to resume peace talks with Syria, but he indicated Israel would not change its stance on the disputed Golan Heights. "We view the Golan as a territory of critical importance to our security. Syria thinks otherwise."

Talks have been blocked over the fate of the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. Syria has insisted Netanyahu embrace an understanding reached with the dovish Labor Party government that the Golan Heights be returned.

Netanyahu also urged the United States to continue its role in facilitating Middle East peace negotiations.

"There is a larger reality here. Our part of the world is still not tranquil, is still unstable, is still one that requires a major effort to produce peace," he said.

 
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