Netanyahu Makes Case for Israel’s Hold on West Bank

PEDUEL, West Bank — Armed with binoculars and maps, Benjamin Netanyahu and half his Cabinet scaled the highlands looming over central Israel on Sunday to press their point that the Jewish state must hold on to key parts of the West Bank.

“We see, a few kilometers away, the high-rises of Tel Aviv and the runway of our international airport,” the Israeli prime minister said. “It is clear that the authority over this hilltop . . . is very important to the security of the country.”

Israel’s claims in the West Bank will be at the center of Netanyahu’s talks with President Clinton next month, ahead of a promised troop pullback from part of the territory.

Netanyahu maintains that, before settling the scope of the pullback, Israel must decide which parts of the West Bank it can never give up.

Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, who is to meet with Clinton separately next month, said last week that he would present a comprehensive plan to revive the peace process.

Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian negotiator, said the plan would include placing an international force in West Bank areas that Israel wants to keep. But Netanyahu advisor David Bar-Illan said Israel would not accept that proposal.

Israel’s Maariv daily reported Sunday that Arafat and Netanyahu will also meet in Washington, along with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. The report could not be confirmed.

Under a series of Israeli-Palestinian agreements reached between 1993 and 1996, Israel must carry out three troop pullbacks in the West Bank by mid-1998. It now fully controls about 73% of the West Bank and has security control over all but 3%. The Palestinians have demanded 30% of the territory in the next redeployment.

Netanyahu now wants to carry out just one redeployment before talks on a final peace settlement.

In the upcoming pullback, Netanyahu appears prepared to offer the Palestinians about 10% of the territory--far less than the Palestinians want.