CNN logo
Navigation


Infoseek/Big Yellow


Pathfinder/Warner Bros


Barnes and Noble
World banner
rule

S P E C I A L Struggle for Peace

Israel rejects Albright's call to halt settlements

Albright, Arafat

'We cannot freeze settlements any more than we can freeze life'

In this story:

September 11, 1997
Web posted at: 6:51 p.m. EDT (2251 GMT)

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright urged Israel to put a freeze on all housing settlements, and was rewarded almost immediately with a blunt rejection.

Albright made the call Thursday in the presence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a televised speech that contained the toughest public language she has used yet regarding his policies.

Albright said the settlements and other Israeli actions were viewed by Palestinians as provocations and were a major impediment to achieving peace in the Mideast.

But David Bar-Illan, a spokesman for Netanyahu, said after Albright's speech, "We cannot freeze settlements any more than we can freeze life."

Albright and Arafat press conference
icon 23 min. VXtreme video

A L S O :

Map of Albright's trip to the Middle East

In the speech televised from a school in Jerusalem, Albright said, "Israel should refrain from unilateral acts, including what the Palestinians perceive as provocative expansion of settlements, land confiscations, home demolitions, and confiscation of IDs. Such actions appear designed to pre-judge the outcome of negotiations.

"We believe that a timeout from these kinds of unilateral actions will create a climate in which ... an accelerated approach can succeed in achieving a final Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement."

Albright says both sides to blame

Albright also said both sides had to shoulder the blame for the breakdown in the peace process.

"This crisis was neither inevitable nor accidental. It has been caused by the failure of both sides to live up to their full obligations as partners in peace," Albright said.

But Bar Illan said, "We consider the 'timeout' as referring to the time after we see a complete turnaround of the Palestinian Authority and its treatment of the security question."

Albright's unexpected comments followed meetings with both Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and Netanyahu.

The Arafat meeting last for three hours, much longer than planned, and she got a pledge from Arafat to be more vigorous in his opposition to terrorism.

"I offer my condolences to the Israeli people and the government, the people who fell victim to terrorist activities in Jerusalem," Arafat said. "I say enough violence. This is time for peace."

Arafat at the press conference
icon 207K/17 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

Dozens of suspected terrorists have been arrested by the Palestinians in the past few days, but Netanyahu said, "it is too early to judge whether there has been movement on the Palestinian side."

Netanyahu said after five Israelis were killed in Jerusalem last week in a suicide bombing that there would be no further action on peace until Arafat acted against the terrorists.

Netanyahu says Israel in 'a state of danger'

Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel is in "a state of danger" and "we have concrete intelligence there will be more terrorist attacks."

Albright encouraged Netanyahu during their meeting to turn over to the Palestinian Authority $67 million in taxes which have been withheld from Palestinian workers. The Palestinian Authority relies on the taxes for part of its operating budget, and has been unable to pay many of its workers.

Albright reportedly told Arafat not to expect too much of Israel in light of the arrests of terrorists, but she also indicated to Netanyahu that there is a give-and-take to negotiating that he, too, must observe.

Har Homa, the housing development in east Jerusalem that has enraged Palestinians, was the kind of construction Albright wanted to see halted, a State Department source said.

But Bar-Illan put his own spin on Albright's request, saying she had not really demanded a halt to settlements, but only to "provocative measures."

Albright not optimistic

Given such thinking, Albright herself indicated that she didn't think much would come of her first mission in the Mideast.

"I am a realist and not a magician," she said during the speech, "and I cannot pull a rabbit out of a hat if there is not the making of it there."

Correspondent Steve Hurst and Reuters contributed to this report.

 
rule

Background and in-depth information

Struggle For Peace CNN Plus

Related stories:

Related sites:

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

Infoseek search  

rule
Message Boards Sound off on our message boards

You said it...
rule
To the top

© 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

Terms under which this service is provided to you.