US President Bill Clinton summarized the talks which took place over the past two days in a press conference at the conclusion of the Washington Summit. He emphasized the fact that both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chair Yasser Arafat have renounced violence and recommitted themselves to renewing and continuing the peace process.
The major achievement of the summit is a commitment on both sides to immediately begin full-time talks on the implementation of the interim agreement, specifically on the redeployment of Israeli troops in the West Bank town of Hebron. Clinton emphasized that neither side intends to re-negotiate agreements which have already been reached, rather to coordinate the implementation stage of the Oslo Accords.
Clinton announced that US Special Envoy to the Middle East Dennis Ross will come to the region Sunday morning to begin talks at the Erez border crossing.
In an unusual move, Clinton spoke in the name of all four summit participants. During his speech, Clinton stated that he would be the only speaker, maintaining that this decision was made in order to present the united front the sides had reached during the talks. During the question and answer period of the press conference, Netanyahu, Arafat and Jordan’s King Hussein all declined Clinton’s invitation to speak to the press.
Clinton reiterated a number of times during his speech and in response to questions from reporters that problems do still exist, greater trust has been achieved between the sides, and asked the press and the world to wait patiently for developments in the next few weeks of full-time talks, to begin Sunday.
Wed. afternoon: Netanyahu, Arafat, Hussein and Clinton to Meet Shortly
Reuters reported that an Israeli official said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants another meeting with Palestinian Authority Chair Yassir Arafat to iron out differences before meeting with US President Bill Clinton.
Netanyahu adviser David Bar-Ilan said a meeting had been set for around 10:00 a.m. The two were scheduled to meet Clinton at 10:30 am, but Bar-Ilan said that meeting would be delayed in the event the first meeting was not concluded in time.
A press conference is scheduled for 2:00 pm Washington time, when the summit participants are scheduled to present conclusions of their two days of emergency meetings, which were designated to return the Middle East peace process
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chair Yassir Arafat spoke privately and ate lunch together on the first day of the Washington Summit designed to resurrect the moribund peace process. US President Bill Clinton, who had been prepared to intervene, did not do so.