Palestinians, Israelis Hold Talks On Hebron Pushed By U.S., Negotiators Try To Salvage Mideast Peace

Spurred on by Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Israelis and Palestinians sat down on Sunday to the urgent negotiations they agreed to launch at last week’s summit meeting in Washington in an effort to salvage their peace after recent gunbattles in the West Bank and Gaza.

The central focus of the talks was to reach agreement as soon as possible on turning over Israeli control of most of the West Bank city of Hebron to the Palestinians.

The long-delayed transfer has evolved into a litmus test of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s intentions toward Palestinian peace.

But the fact that Palestinian police officers have used their weapons against Israelis in the violence has made Netanyahu determined to strengthen the security arrangements for the Jewish enclaves in the heart of Hebron, the last of seven West Bank cities to come under Palestinian self-rule under a 1995 agreement.

The transfer originally had been scheduled for March, but it was suspended after a series of Palestinian bombings in Israel.

The talks that opened Sunday technically were negotiations that had been agreed on last month and were delayed by the shootings.

But the prominent presence at the negotiating table of Christopher’s chief Middle East coordinator, Dennis Ross, and Christopher’s own meetings with Netanyahu and the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, made clear that the United States is determined to press for quick and tangible results.

“The recent violence has demonstrated the great urgency of reaching some concrete results just as soon as possible,” Christopher told reporters after meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

“The situation has eased somewhat, but it is still a dangerous situation,” he said two hours later after meeting Arafat in the Gaza Strip.