Netanyahu Vows Not to Be Pressured Into Further W. Bank Withdrawal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dug in his heels Tuesday against American calls for quick decisions in the Middle East peace process, saying Israel will not yield to external pressures on such critical issues.

His comments came amid a flurry of reports that his government is under significant pressure from the Clinton administration to decide swiftly on a concrete plan and timetable for turning over more West Bank land to the Palestinians.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and other U.S. officials have called on Israel to reinvigorate the deadlocked peace process with a “credible” troop withdrawal from the West Bank.

But Netanyahu told reporters Tuesday that the only real pressure he feels about a West Bank pullback is the heavy responsibility of making decisions affecting Israel’s future. His Cabinet decided Nov. 30 to approve the withdrawal but left open the questions of its scope and timing.

“We will not act with haste, and we will not act without judgment,” Netanyahu said in a visit to the Red Sea resort of Eilat. “No external pressures, no external dictates will work--not in determining the timetable, the substance of the discussions, nor the results.”

American officials stressed that, while the U.S. is growing impatient with Netanyahu’s delays in carrying out Israel’s promises to the Palestinians, it has not given the Israeli leader an ultimatum or set deadlines. They refuted Israeli media reports that Albright has asked Netanyahu to provide her with a detailed plan for the withdrawal by next week, when the two are to meet in Europe, or that the United States is backing Palestinian positions on the pullout.

Still, officials said a new, activist U.S. approach to the peace process is bearing fruit, with the Netanyahu government and that of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat now deeply engaged in discussions about their next peacemaking steps.

The American initiative--launched by Albright in September on her first official visit to the region--has “increased the sense of urgency and created an interest on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides to be responsive,” a senior U.S. diplomat said, adding: “They do seem to be glacially moving forward.”

For now, the U.S. pressure is greater on Netanyahu than on Arafat; with Israeli Cabinet discussions set to resume Sunday on redeployment details, “that’s where the ball is now,” the envoy said. But once Israel agrees to a proposal, assuming the U.S. can support it, “we will be trying to persuade the Palestinians to accept it,” he said.

The Haaretz newspaper reported Tuesday that Netanyahu has expressed doubts privately that Albright will accept an Israeli withdrawal from anything less than 12% of Israeli-controlled land on the West Bank for the next troop pullback. Israel has floated figures ranging from 6% to 10% for the withdrawal. The Palestinians say they want 30%, and the Americans have said a “credible” withdrawal would begin in the double digits.

But U.S. officials said that Albright raised no specifics with Netanyahu in their Paris talks Friday and that she instead tackled such issues as what land might be handed over and its proximity to Palestinian areas.

“The percentage doesn’t really matter if what you end up with looks like Swiss cheese,” the diplomat said, referring to the prospect that Israel might give the Palestinians autonomy in scattered tracts.

The Palestinians now have full or partial control of 27% of the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since capturing it in the 1967 Middle East War.

Under its peace agreements with the Palestinians, Israel promised to carry out three further withdrawals by mid-1998. Israel’s offer on the first stage was rejected by the Palestinians as too small. The second stage is the one under consideration now.

Israel has insisted that the Palestinians have failed to uphold some of their treaty obligations--for example, providing adequate security against terrorism.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu repeated that Israel does not intend to follow through with the third stage and will instead roll it into an Israeli proposal for accelerated talks aimed at producing a permanent peace agreement. The Palestinians have rejected that idea, saying they fear it will allow Israel to avoid carrying out its obligations under existing agreements.

Netanyahu, who will consult with senior ministers before Sunday’s Cabinet meeting, has said his government probably will take weeks to produce a withdrawal plan.

Israeli officials and commentators have said that one reason for the delay could be Netanyahu’s fear that his right-religious government, pressured on the withdrawal plan, might respond later this month by delaying the passage of his budget--a move that might bring down his government.