Jewish Settlers Throw Stones at Israeli Soldiers

Jewish settlers turned on Israeli soldiers Monday, pelting them with stones, eggs and tomatoes, then soaking them with a water hose while Palestinians in the West Bank city of Hebron watched in wonder.

After nearly a month of stone-throwing riots by Palestinians, the soldiers were stringing chicken wire above a gate outside the Beit Hadassah settlement to block stones. Angry settlers said more fencing at the tightly guarded compound made it feel like a ghetto.

One settler tried to stab a police officer but was overpowered. A police spokeswoman said two settlers were arrested.

“This is good for us,” said bystander Ahmed abu Sneineh. “Now the police will see the settlers as provocateurs too.”

Israeli-Palestinian relations essentially collapsed last month over an Israeli housing project in disputed East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as a future capital. The resentment has played out in near-daily Palestinian rioting in Hebron, where about 450 Jews live among more than 100,000 Palestinians.

But Israeli media reported Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Italian counterpart that actual construction on the housing project will not begin until 2000, providing time to reach a final peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Also Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright announced that she is sending special envoy Dennis B. Ross to the Middle East this week for separate talks with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and Netanyahu.