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| S P E C I A L | Struggle for Peace |
U.S. peace plan for Mideast published
June 4, 1998
Web posted at: 11:42 a.m. EDT (1542 GMT)In this story:
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli newspapers have published the U.S. proposal for an Israeli troop withdrawal -- a plan that would leave 40 percent of the West Bank under Palestinian control and restrict Jewish settlement expansion.
Details of the U.S. initiative have been reported previously, but Thursday was the first time a complete version was published.
Palestinian negotiator Hassan Asfour confirmed the points of the initiative, which were printed in Israel's three major dailies -- Haaretz, Maariv and Yediot Ahronot.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said parts of the draft as reported were on target, but some details are apparently not up to date.
Israeli decision due soon
U.S. officials expect a decision from Israel within days on the plan, and there were indications that Netanyahu has softened his stance.
Netanyahu The Yediot Ahronot daily said Netanyahu had embraced most of the proposals, including a 13 percent troop pullback over 12 weeks, and that the key sticking point now was the scope of an additional withdrawal.
Netanyahu wants to limit that pullback to 2 percent, but the Palestinians said they expected a more generous offer.
"We will never agree to a 2 percent redeployment," said Asfour who added that under the American plan, the scope of the next pullback was to be negotiated at a later time.
U.S. envoy Dennis Ross was meeting with senior Palestinian negotiators in London to discuss the U.S. plan.
What Israel would do
Under the plan, as published on Thursday:
- Israel would withdraw troops in three stages over 12 weeks. The Palestinians currently have full control over 3 percent of the West Bank and partial control over another 24 percent.
- At the end of the pullback, Palestinians would have full control over 18.2 percent and partial control over 22 percent, for a total of 40 percent -- a possible springboard for statehood.
- Talks on a permanent peace accord would begin immediately with the first troop pullback.
Israel also would also give assurances on contested land issues by:
- Promising not to expand Jewish settlements in a significant way.
- Refraining from demolishing 1,800 Palestinian homes.
- Restricting land confiscations.
What the Palestinians would do
Israel is demanding that Palestinians revoke parts of their PLO founding charter which call for Israel's destruction. As a concession to the Palestinians, the U.S. proposal calls for the revocation to be carried out by the 18-member PLO Executive Committee rather than the much larger Palestine National Council.
In return:
- Palestinians would promise not to question Israeli credentials at the United Nations.
- Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat would outlaw incitement against Israel and systematically confiscate illegal weapons.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
B A C K G R O U N D I K E Y P L A Y E R S I M A P S
