Mideast Talks Resume, but There’s No Sign of Progress

Israel and the Palestinians resumed high-level peace talks Thursday after a rapid series of conciliatory gestures and a drop in violence, pushing for some kind of last-minute deal before President Clinton leaves office. But the session ended after about three hours with no indication of any progress having been made.

Israeli negotiators, led by Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, had arrived at the Gaza Strip’s Erez checkpoint just before midnight and entered directly into talks with a Palestinian delegation headed by senior negotiators Yasser Abed-Rabbo and Saeb Erekat, according to officials from both sides.

“The next 72 hours could be decisive, and we hope these efforts will lead to something,” Nabil abu Rudaineh, an aide to Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, said before the session began.

After it ended about three hours later, Ben-Ami spokesman Moshe Debi said there was “nothing we can point to” as far as progress. Ben-Ami and Arafat talked afterward by phone about the talks and future dealings, Debi said.

“There will be more contacts,” Debi said, but he added, “There are no high expectations.”

The return to negotiations--three weeks after the last high-level contacts, in Washington--followed security meetings that, on Thursday, led to the easing of Israel’s blockade of the West Bank and Gaza.

An aide to caretaker Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Danny Yatom, told Israel Television that both sides are interested in whether they can “agree on some kind of wording” before Clinton’s term ends Jan. 20.

Any such agreement could be used to keep the peace process going after Clinton leaves office, Yatom said.

A senior Palestinian official closely involved in the contacts said the United States was pressuring both sides to produce a treaty outline, with each side listing its position on disputed points.

Once the work is completed, U.S. envoy Dennis B. Ross would come to the region to try to narrow the gaps.

Officials from both sides, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was a possibility of a session today between Arafat and Israeli Cabinet minister Shimon Peres.