Renewed Hope For Mideast Peace
The leaders of Israel and the Palestinians met with President Clinton at the White House on Monday and agreed to return next month for a summit aimed at resolving the final details of an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.
CBS News Senior White House Correspondent Scott Pelley reports that the White House meeting marked the first time in a year and a half that there has been any kind of progress in Mideast peace.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were in the U.S. for a meeting at the United Nations, and when Israel began to show some flexibility, Mr. Clinton agreed to a summit overnight.
"There has been a significant narrowing of the gaps between the two parties across a wide range of issues," Mr. Clinton said. "To be candid, there's still a substantial amount of work to be done before a comprehensive agreement can be reached."
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It had been a year since Netanyahu and Arafat had been in the same room. Now they've met twice in 24 hours. Netanyahu broke the ice, agreeing to a U.S. demand to hand over 13 percent more of the West Bank to Arafat.
"I can't tell you we agreed on everything. That would not be true. But we agreed on many things and that is a good start," said Netanyahu.
But only a start. The White House said no part of the deal will be done until all issues are resolved. Progress is slight - a far cry from the days when a president called a Mideast summit to close major agreements.
"I thought it was a good idea because they were making some progress and I think having the president there pushing, prodding, suggesting and basically telling them to get on with the work," said Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
Arafat helped things along with a concession at the U.N., where he talked about independence, but pointedly did not say he would declare it.
"This independent Palestinian state must be established as an embodiment of the right of all people to self determination," Arafat said.
With cooperation in the air, the president has invited Netanyahu and Arafat back to Washington in mid-october for days of marathon bargaining.
Meanwhile, a car laden with explosives blew up in the West Bank Tuesday, killing a suspected member of the armed wing of Hamas. The blast also wounded two brothers thought to belong to the militant Islamic movement. The circumstances of the explosion are under investigation.
Hamas bombings have killed scores of Israelis since landmark peace accords were signed with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat in 1993.
The West Bank was sealed off from Israel and Israeli forces were on high alert Tuesday, amid fears that Hamas would strike during the Yom Kippur holy day on Wednesday.
Hamas leaders had vowed revnge after Israeli police reported killing two brothers -- both high-ranking members of Hamas -- in a raid on September 10.
©1998 CBS Worldwide Corp. All rights reserved. Reuters contributed to this report