World

Key Agreement Reached

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

October 22, 1998 / 7:59 PM EDT / CBS

With the Middle East summit in Maryland now in its second week, President Clinton flew in from the White House again on Thursday to push for agreement on Israel's next withdrawal from the West Bank.

In a drive to conclude a West Bank accord, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yasser Arafat reached agreement Thursday on revising calls in the Palestinian charter for Israel's destruction.

Under the agreement, the Palestinian National Council would assemble along with other Palestinian groups and take formal action to annul clauses of the 1964 document that promotes Israel's dismantling as a Jewish state.

CBS News Senior White House Correspondent Scott Pelley reports that a senior Israeli delegate to the negotiations has told CBS News that he believes a deal can be done at this summit.

U.S. officials are more guarded, however, with one official saying that critical gaps have not been closed.

"I hope the parties will seize this opportunity and to retreat from the clear moment to capture the momentum of peace and keep it moving forward," Mr. Clinton said.

The sixth trip to the summit was a rescue mission. Mr. Clinton has spent almost 70 hours with the leaders - the greatest foreign policy commitment of his presidency. U.S. sources say Arafat and Netanyahu have all but agreed to terms for Israeli security. Now, the U.S. is pressing to close a deal on a wide range of disputes.

"Everyone, if they can achieve their objectives, would want to move sooner rather than later and certainly we want today to be a day where key decisions are made," said State Department spokesman James Rubin.

The Palestinians want Israel to commit to a third troop withdrawal from the West Bank. They also want the release of 3,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails. For its part, Israel is demanding a new Palestinian charter that does not call for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Despite signs of progress, Mideast talks are always subject to failure without notice. Witness 1994, at the moment of signing an earlier agreement, Arafat refused. With the world watching, he insisted on further negotiations.