Vowing to End Strife, Rabin and Arafat Sign Pact

With soaring vows to end a century of bloody strife between Arabs and Jews in a land that is sacred to both, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat signed a bulky peace agreement Thursday that allows Palestinians to govern themselves across most of the West Bank.

A beaming President Clinton presided over a glittering ceremony at the White House, the now-familiar setting for the formalities that have slowly rolled back the Arab-Israeli conflict during the almost two decades since Anwar Sadat, then Egypt’s president, made his dramatic visit to Jerusalem.

The 460-page document governs almost every second of a six-month schedule for dismantling the Israeli occupation and installing Palestinian self-rule over the cities and villages where most West Bank Arabs live. But additional negotiations, probably stretching over years, will be required to reach a final settlement of the conflict.

Nevertheless, Thursday was a day of geopolitical theater for Rabin, Arafat and a supporting cast that included a king, two presidents, a few prime ministers and a gaggle of foreign ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Russia, Norway, Spain, Japan and much of the Arab world.

For Clinton, the ceremony was a chance to celebrate a foreign policy success. Although the pact was negotiated directly between Israeli and Palestinian delegations, U.S. officials helped the process along, sometimes by mediation and sometimes by scolding. Clinton reinforced that point. “We will not rest until Muslims and Jews can turn their backs to pray without any fear, until all the region’s children can grow up untouched by conflict,” Clinton told the gathering.

Paradoxically, the assembly of some of the world’s most powerful individuals seemed almost unremarkable. Rabin and Arafat exchanged a perfunctory handshake, arousing none of the emotion produced two years ago when the same two men shook hands for the first time.

But Rabin and Arafat waxed eloquent in their assessments of the impact of the agreement.

In a speech studded with biblical references, Rabin said that the pact should “end once and for all 100 years of bloodshed.”

Arafat called for an end to terrorism--a tactic that his Palestine Liberation Organization employed for decades against the Israeli occupation--and declared: “Enough killing . . . of innocent people.”

At the same time, Arafat and Rabin acknowledged that the pact is opposed by often-violent factions of Palestinians and Israelis who, for reasons that are mirror images of each other, regard the delicate compromise as a sellout.

“The enemies of yesterday,” Rabin said, referring to the Israeli government and the PLO, “share a common enemy of today and in the future: the terrorism that sows death in our homes and on the buses that ply the streets. The sounds of celebration here cannot drown out the cries of innocent citizens who traveled those buses to their deaths.”

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Arafat seemed to agree: “We are betting everything on the future. Therefore we must condemn and forswear violence totally, not only because the use of violence is morally reprehensible but because it undermines Palestinian aspirations to the realization of peace. From this day on, we do not want to see any waste of . . . any innocent Palestinian life or any innocent Israeli life.”

In Israel, opponents of the pact staged relatively small and sporadic protests. About 250 opposition figures conducted an invitation-only countersigning ceremony at the Jerusalem Convention Center, declaring Rabin’s peace agreement with Arafat “null and void” and vowing never to give up any of the biblical land of Israel, including the West Bank.

“One thing is clear--this is not a day of joy for the people of Israel,” Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the opposition Likud Party, said at the mock signing.

Nevertheless, if every element of the pact is implemented as it is written, the process of Palestinian self-rule will probably be too far along to turn back by the fall of 1996, when Netanyahu plans to challenge Rabin in the election for prime minister.

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The agreement signed Thursday marks the second stage of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Two years ago, Arafat and Rabin signed an agreement that led to Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip and the isolated West Bank town of Jericho. The latest pact extends self-government to the other Arab cities and villages of the West Bank. Jewish settlers living in the territory will remain under Israeli law and will continue to be protected by Israeli troops.

Under the terms of the agreement, Israeli troops are scheduled to leave Arab cities--except for part of Hebron--by March. After that, the appointed authority now in place will be replaced by officials elected by Palestinians.

Compared to the situation that existed just three years ago, the agreement makes breathtaking changes in the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians. But the most intractable disputes were left for the final phase of negotiations, scheduled to begin next year. Those talks must decide the fate of Jerusalem and of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza.

Immediately after the White House ceremony, Secretary of State Warren Christopher convened a conference at the State Department of the world’s wealthy countries to appeal for the money needed to finance Palestinian self-government.

U.S. Middle East envoy Dennis Ross said that the $2.4 billion over five years that was pledged two years ago should be enough if all countries will make good on their pledges. But he said the money is coming in very slowly.

Times staff writer Marjorie Miller in Jerusalem contributed to this story.

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Highlights of the Accord

Some of the major agreements in the West Bank autonomy accord:

Redeployment: Israel’s army will withdraw from the West Bank cities of Janin, Nablus, Tulkarm, Qalqiliya, Ramallah and Bethlehem, and from 450 towns and villages. Israel forces will remain to guard Jewish settlers in Hebron.

Elections: Palestinians will elect an 82-member self-rule council with executive and legislative powers, and a head of the executive authority, or president.

Police: Israeli-PLO joint patrols will share responsibility for escorting Israelis through Palestinian areas and for maintaining security. Palestinians will not have the power to arrest Israelis.

Water: Israel will increase the amount of water allocated to the Palestinians, and a joint committee will manage resources and enforce policy.

Prisoners: Israel, which holds 5,000 Palestinian prisoners, will make releases in three phases.

Holy Sites: Holy sites will be controlled by the Palestinians except for the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, with special arrangements for Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem and Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus.

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