Hopeful Mood Fuels Talks on Mideast Peace

Amid signs that the two sides appear to be edging toward some sort of compromise on the emotional issue of Jerusalem, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators worked through the start of the Jewish Hanukkah holiday Thursday expressing a rare shared optimism.

In a sharp change of mood--darkened by three months of violence--both sides said they hope they can resolve more than half a century of conflict before President Clinton leaves office next month. The Washington talks, which had been expected to end with the start of the holiday at sundown Thursday, now could run through Saturday, U.S. officials said.

Although Israeli and Palestinian officials differed sharply on the details of the proposals under consideration, it seemed clear that Israel’s caretaker prime minister, Ehud Barak, has sweetened the offer that Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat rejected at the failed Camp David summit in July.

Palestinian sources said the Israeli delegation has offered a deal that would give Arafat’s government control over virtually all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including most of the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem and the disputed holy place that Jews call Temple Mount and Muslims refer to as Haram al Sharif, or “noble sanctuary.”

An Israeli official, who asked not to be identified, declined to confirm the details in the Palestinian account. But he asserted, “Israel has been willing to show increased flexibility to solve this problem. That has been the case since Camp David.”

But the official added that Israel is demanding similar flexibility from the Palestinian side, something that he said has not yet materialized.

Nevertheless, both sides were relentlessly optimistic, an unexpected development given the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian violence, which has left more than 325 people dead, 85% of them Palestinians.

“If we reach agreement on the basic details, we could have an agreement Saturday,” Yasser Abed-Rabbo, a senior member of the Palestinian delegation, told the Reuters news agency. “We can be very close to an agreement--or very far, depending on those details.”

The Israeli official, who is not a negotiator but stays in close touch with them, said the Israeli delegation is upbeat. “They think a deal is doable,” he said. “Does that mean it will happen? Maybe not, but it is possible.”

The State Department is “encouraged by the spirit of openness” shown by the Israelis and Palestinians, spokesman Philip T. Reeker said.

Israeli press accounts Thursday said Clinton had presented the Israelis and Palestinians with a detailed plan Wednesday drawn from positions advanced by both sides at Camp David and subsequent meetings.

According to the version published by Yediot Aharonot, Israel’s largest-circulation daily, Clinton said the Palestinians must acknowledge that they cannot get 100% of the territory occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. At the same time, the president said the Palestinians will not settle for only 90%, so it will be necessary to reach a compromise between 90% and 100%.

White House spokesman P.J. Crowley refused to confirm the newspaper’s account.

Nevertheless, it appeared unlikely that a final deal can be completed during this round of talks. Although both delegations contain high-level officials, neither is likely to have the authority to make a final decision without extensive discussions back home with Barak or Arafat.

If a deal can be struck, Barak and Arafat are expected to sign it at a summit hosted by Clinton. But U.S. officials, mindful of the ill-fated Camp David summit that collapsed over how to share Jerusalem, say it is far too early to know if that will be possible.

But this time around, there is extra incentive for all parties to make a deal.

Clinton would sorely love to salvage his most important diplomatic project before leaving office Jan. 20. Barak desperately needs a peace deal to give him the only possible chance he has to win reelection Feb. 6.

And Arafat, too, is sufficiently cognizant of Israeli politics to know that he may well be facing Ariel Sharon, an unrepentant right-wing hawk, as his next negotiating partner if Barak loses the election. As difficult as Barak may have been, Arafat would find Sharon even less accommodating.

It is not at all clear that a peace agreement will be enough to boost Barak’s candidacy. Israelis are especially suspicious now that Barak will sign anything out of desperation. They will view an agreement with considerable skepticism.

The bloodshed of the last three months has unnerved Israelis and Palestinians alike, making both sides less inclined to grant concessions.

On the emotional issue of sovereignty over Temple Mount-Haram al Sharif--the holiest site in Judaism and the third-holiest location in Islam--the sides seemed to be edging toward some sort of compromise.

“We are close to achieving recognition of Palestinian sovereignty over Arab East Jerusalem, including the holy sites,” said the Palestinian delegation’s Abed-Rabbo.

Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, who heads the Israeli delegation, told Israel Radio that Israel will demand that Jews’ special connection to the Temple Mount be preserved. But, significantly, he didn’t say the Israeli side will insist on retaining sovereignty over the disputed plateau.

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Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson in Jerusalem contributed to this report.