The summit opening today at the Wye Plantation, Maryland, is more than a little bizarre. Summit conferences are usually held when the parties are close to an agreement and only a handful of differences remaint. This, though, is hardly true of the summit being hosted by President Bill Clinton which brings together Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Most outstanding issues have yet to be resolved. And this is despite intensive diplomatic efforts that included a meeting between the three leaders in Washington three weeks ago and a second in Gaza last week between Netanyahu, Arafat and US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. On the eve of the summit both sides appeared to be pessimistic. Netanyahu, during a visit to Jordan yesterday, said the summit could succeed if Arafat met Israel's demands to clamp down on militants. "We believe they [the talks] can succeed. Israel is prepared to do its part if the Palestinians do their part, especially in the field of security and other outstanding issues," he said. Netanyahu's trip to Jordan came one day after suspected Palestinian gunmen shot dead an Israeli, prompting the prime minister's office to say there is "no chance at this stage" of signing a new peace deal with the Palestinians. "Without fulfillment of all Palestinian security commitments there will not be an agreement and in light of this gloomy reality there is no chance at this stage of signing an agreement," Netanyahu's office said. Palestinian officials reacted by declaring that Netanyahu was using the killing of the Israeli as an excuse to block any agreement. Dampening expectations of a breakthrought, the officials said they did not expect Netanyahu to work seriously for a deal if he continued to reject the idea of reciprocity on security issues. "Netanyahu's goal is to delay or even stop reaching a deal and he is using the killing as an excuse," said Palestinian negotiator Hassan Asfour. "We have had many Palestinians killed in cold blood by Israelis, but this never prompted Netanyahu to react by demanding justice for the victims." Saeb Ereikat, the top Palestinian negotiator, said: "Netanyahu, who created the term reciprocity, has to stop tolerating Israeli extremism and understand that terror must be fought, whether committed by Israelis or Palestinians. Yet he rejects such reciprocity." The United States, for its part, promised to push for stronger security guarantees for Israel as part of the land-for-peace deal with the Palestinians. "One of the ideas where we want to broaden the understandings and broaden the agreement is on security," State Department Spokesman James Rubin said. "We made substantial and significant progress on it during the secretary's trip and in subsequent days. But we need to broaden the understandings and expand the areas of agreement in that area as well as many other areas." US officials said an agreement is not a foregone conclusion. "Clearly there are a large number of hurdles that have to be overcome if we are going to get an agreement," Rubin said. "Such an agreement is by no means a sure thing and it will require some tough choices by both sides," Rubin added. Albright, during a trip to Israel last week, worked out a tentative understanding with Netanyahu that Israel would relinquish 13 per cent of West Bank territory, including three per cent that would be considered a "nature reserve" under joint Palestinian-Israeli control. According to Arab diplomats in Washington, the main problem facing the summit is that Netanyahu wants to delay all the phases of redeployment from the 13 per cent area until the Palestinian Authority implements all his security demands. These include the demolition of the infrastructure of the Islamist Hamas movement, the confiscation of illegal weapons, passing a law which prohibits the acquisition of guns and curbing all anti-Israel activities. Arafat asked for a reciprocal Israeli crackdown on the "terrorism" of Jewish settlers, but was turned down by Netanyahu. On the other hand, Clinton, the target of an impeachment inquiry over his affair with Monica Lewinsky, has put his presidential prestige on the line to win a deal on the Israeli pullback. Agreement would open the way for Israel and the Palestinians to move on to the final settlement negotiations that under the Oslo Accords should be completed by 4 May 1999, a deadline unlikely to be met. Clinton will meet Netanyahu and Arafat this morning at the White House before travelling to the Wye River Conference Centre for a working session in the afternoon. The conference centre, site of the 1996 Israeli-Syrian talks, comprises three cozy mansions, surrounded by an oak forest near Chesapeake Bay. Following the opening, Albright will step in to shepherd the leaders towards an agreement during four days of talks. Hoda Tewfik in Washington, Tarek Hassan in Gaza, Wire dispatches
