Israel, PLO Try to Patch Up Peace Pact : Mideast: Both sides say they are ready to compromise as they meet at Swiss resort. But no one is making any promises.

Faced with a prolonged impasse in their negotiations on a program to implement Palestinian self-government, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization are attempting again this weekend to resolve the issues that stand in the way of a settlement.

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres met for more than four hours late Saturday and planned further talks today, with both sides declaring their readiness for compromise.

Both sides “are making an effort, both have taken a couple of steps forward,” Israeli Environment Minister Yossi Sarid said. “We are not yet at an agreement, but there is a very good atmosphere.”

The two delegations appointed a small drafting committee to work through the night in an effort to strike a deal that would satisfy each side’s political needs.

“I would not say we have an agreement, but there is an atmosphere of compromise and an atmosphere of trying to work things out,” said Yasser Abed-Rabbo, a member of the PLO Executive Committee.

Although Arafat and Peres had reached some broad understandings a week ago in Oslo, negotiators found themselves unable to put these into writing during further talks in Cairo.

“We shall try to sign an agreement, but nobody can promise ahead of time,” Peres said before the meeting with Arafat. “We have a lot of hard work ahead. I just hope for the best.”

Upon his arrival at this ski resort high in the Swiss Alps, Arafat was equally downbeat. Asked if he thought agreement could be reached, Arafat said simply: “I hope so. We’ll see.”

Arafat and Peres were meeting in advance of a joint appearance today before the World Economic Forum, a privately organized annual gathering of government and business leaders.

There are two basic issues before the men:

* Control of the border crossings from Jordan and Egypt into the regions that will become autonomous under the basic agreement between Israel and the PLO.

Israel insists for security reasons that it be able to inspect all travelers and their baggage. The PLO argues that it should control entry into the Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Jericho and that Israel should limit its security checks. Israel counters that the PLO wants trappings of statehood--and that this is more than it can accept.

* The size of the autonomous Jericho District on the West Bank.

Israel is offering 22 square miles and insisting there will be no more. The PLO wants 85 square miles, and it is asking for access to the Dead Sea and control over areas where there are Jewish settlements--though not control of the settlements themselves.

Also on the table, however, are security arrangements for the 5,000 settlers living in the Gaza Strip and half a dozen other issues with political implications, according to Israeli and Arab diplomats.

The failure to reach agreement on these questions has held up completion of the detailed program to implement the autonomy accord signed in September. As a result, Israel’s troop withdrawal from Gaza and Jericho has been delayed.

Israeli sources indicated Saturday night that Israel might agree to some of the border arrangements desired by the PLO in return for greater security measures to protect the Gaza settlers.

However, Arab diplomats familiar with the negotiations in Cairo last week said the gaps are wide, and Palestinians added that outside mediators such as Norway, which helped Israel and the PLO reach their basic accord, might have to help.

Arafat met before dawn Saturday with the PLO Executive Committee before leaving his headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, according to Palestinian sources, and then saw the U.S. ambassador to Tunisia to request American assistance in breaking the deadlock.

Israeli officials with Peres were even less encouraging, predicting that several more meetings could be needed.

“There are lots of baskets of differences,” Peres said Saturday as he trudged through the snow back to his hotel from the Davos conference center.

He had told Israeli television on Friday that he had come “with a will to sign” an agreement with Arafat on the outstanding issues, but he warned: “There is a possibility that we will only discuss.

“I would like the progress to be significant, but I also am aware of the difficulties,” Peres said. “We are handling negotiations with emotional significance between people, negotiations that touch on difficult sensitivities.

“Every word has a different repercussion. All this means crossing oceans, doubts, fears and difficulties.”

Scheduled to join Arafat and Peres in addressing the World Economic Forum on “Cementing Peace in the Middle East” are Crown Prince Hassan of Jordan, Foreign Minister Amir Moussa of Egypt and Joan Spero, U.S. undersecretary of state for economic affairs.