U.S. Officials Urge Flexibility in Mideast

U.S. officials pleaded Sunday for Israeli and Palestinian leaders to shed their hard-line stances and renew face-to-face consultations as President Clinton prepared to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat insists that building must stop on an Israeli housing project in East Jerusalem before long-standing disagreements can be resolved and peace talks can resume. Netanyahu pressed his case Sunday with his closest friend among Arab leaders, King Hussein of Jordan, who was recovering from prostate surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Netanyahu, who met privately with the monarch, was welcomed by a banner declaring “peace” that flew over downtown Rochester.

The U.S. government, meanwhile, urged the two sides to agree to a face-to-face meeting to salvage a shaky Middle East peace process.

“The United States remains committed to securing a just, lasting and comprehensive peace between Israel and her neighbors,” said Bill Richardson, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. “But, in the end, the success of the process depends on the willingness of the Palestinians and the Israelis to work together as negotiating partners.”

Richardson, addressing the influential American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, said, “We are very concerned at the significant and rapid decline in the confidence that the Palestinians and the Israeli government have in each other and, to some extent, in the process itself.”

Vice President Al Gore also was to address the group’s annual meeting.

Netanyahu was scheduled to make an appearance before the U.S. Jewish lobby group today after meeting with Clinton, members of Congress and Jews, including a delegation of four Conservative and four Reform rabbis.

The prime minister canceled an appearance today before the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. The Israeli Embassy cited scheduling problems for bypassing the conference of Reform Jews, who were angered by the Israeli parliament’s initial approval last week of legislation invalidating conversions by non-Orthodox rabbis conducted on Israeli soil. Conversions by Reform and Conservative Jews would still be recognized if performed abroad.

With the peace process stalled since last month amid increasing violence in the Middle East, U.S. officials have suggested it may take another Camp David-like negotiating session to force both sides to resolve their differences in a private setting.

But first, Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and U.S. diplomats were meeting with both sides to find possible compromises. Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians appeared ready to budge.

Richardson emphasized that, no matter what, “terrorism is never an acceptable alternative to negotiation.”