Israelis Dampen Hopes of Early Deal on Palestinian Autonomy : Mideast: Prime Minister Rabin indicates negotiations could continue for several weeks. PLO leader Arafat wants to be able to sign Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said a final agreement with the Palestine Liberation Organization to begin withdrawing troops from the occupied territories “will take more time than we expected,” as Israeli negotiators Tuesday dampened hopes that they are close to a deal on Palestinian autonomy in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.

The prime minister, in his first public comments on the negotiations since the bargaining session between PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in Switzerland last weekend, told American Jewish leaders in a conference call Monday that Israeli and PLO negotiators “are moving slowly toward an agreement.”

But in the conversation, which was made public Tuesday, Rabin added, “It will take time” to finalize the withdrawal plan that was scheduled for implementation last Dec. 13.

In an interview Tuesday night on Israel Television, the prime minister indicated that the negotiations could continue for several more weeks, adding that “some progress was made (in Switzerland), but we did not reach agreement on the important matters concerning security.

“It’s not a matter of a week, though I hope it would turn out to be so,” he said. “If it takes three or four weeks, I suggest we should not be disappointed.”

Earlier Tuesday, Arafat, in a speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, had expressed “sincere hope” that he and Peres would be able to sign such an agreement during a scheduled meeting in Cairo this Sunday. But Israeli negotiator Yossi Sarid, Israel’s environment minister, said he had strong doubts.

“I don’t think that the agreement will be signed in Cairo at this stage,” Sarid told Israeli Army Radio on Tuesday afternoon. “But I’m always willing to be proven wrong.” He added that Peres and Arafat “have gotten very close to completion of a few main issues.” But Sarid indicated that the two sides remain far apart on several key details.

Peres, on a visit to Washington to meet with Secretary of State Warren Christopher, said Tuesday that “a great deal of work” remains before negotiators can reach a final agreement. He said negotiations would resume next week and “hopefully we shall come close to a conclusion.”

Christopher conceded that negotiations have taken longer than expected, but he rejected any suggestion that they are faltering.

Israeli media reported extensively Tuesday on growing criticism from Israel’s top military officials, who were quoted expressing deep concern that negotiators had ceded too much on key security disputes, such as the control of the border crossings into the autonomous zones from Jordan and Egypt.

Rabin’s political opposition within Israel quickly seized on the military leadership’s reported concerns.

The chairman of the opposition Likud Party charged that Peres and Sarid have dragged Rabin into making security concessions that ultimately threaten Israel with the influx of thousands of Palestinians.

Sarid flatly denied reports that concessions were made.