Settlers say majority of cabinet opposes deal

AS ISRAELI and Palestinian negotiators worked into the night on the text of the Hebron peace accord, Jewish settler groups claimed…

AS ISRAELI and Palestinian negotiators worked into the night on the text of the Hebron peace accord, Jewish settler groups claimed to have persuaded a majority of Israeli cabinet ministers to vote against the deal.

There was also open talk on the far right of finding a way to bring down the Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, and replace him with a more dependable" hardline leader.

Although there had been optimism on both sides that the accord would be initialled yesterday, Israeli and Palestinian officials insisted publicly that there was no new crisis - and that the latest delay merely reflected the complexities of drafting an agreed text.

Privately, though, each side accused the other of seeking last minute concessions. President Clinton was reported to be following the process so intently as to be suggesting linguistic formulations, and the US mediator, Mr Dennis Ross, again postponed his planned return to Washington to oversee what he hoped were the final few hours of talks.

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The path to the accord had apparently been cleared with the personal intervention on Sunday of King Hussein, who persuaded the Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat, and Mr Netanyahu to accept a mid 1998 deadline for further Israeli military withdrawals that would leave most of the West Bank in Mr Arafat's control.

However, some sources said last night that differences remained over other non Hebron related elements of the accord - including Israeli demands for the extradition of Palestinians alleged to have murdered Israelis in attacks in recent years.

As soon as the text is agreed by both sides, Mr Netanyahu and Mr Arafat are expected to meet and initial the document, before taking it back to their respective cabinets for approval. While Mr Arafat is unlikely to experience serious opposition, Mr Netanyahu knows that seven members of the 18 strong cabinet are likely to reject the deal, and at least three more are wobbling.

Mr Natan Sharansky, for example, the former Soviet prisoner of Zion and a long time ally of the prime minister's, said yesterday he would not rubber stamp a deal that provided for the automatic continuation of Israeli West Bank withdrawals.

Another minister previously seen as a safe bet, Mr Tsahi Hanegbi, was also quoted as saying he would not back the Hebron deal if the subsequent pullouts were included as an integral part of the accord.

Such opposition reflected fears on the right that the further redeployments will inevitably pave the way to Palestinian statehood.

Although Mr Aharon Domb, a spokesman for the West Bank settlers, asserted last night that a majority of ministers had now promised to vote down the deal, it seems more likely that cajoling and arm twisting can yet rescue Mr Netanyahu's majority.

In that spirit, the prime minister was last night busy promising his cabinet colleagues that they would have plenty of time to examine the accords, and as much explanation as they desired.

In the longer term, however, the deep dismay on the Israeli right at the prospect of Mr Netanyahu following through on the reviled Oslo peace process is likely to lead to defections from the governing coalition.

And Mr Yitzhak Levy, a minister from the National Religious Party, the faction closest to the settlers, is being cited as the prospective head of a new rightwing alliance to challenge Mr Netanyahu's leadership.

Reuter adds: Three parties with five ministers in Mr Netanyahu's government met to coordinate positions and possible plans to vote against the accord.

Two of them, the Israel B'Aliyah Party and the Third Way Party, said that without a commitment from Mr Netanyahu that there would not be a return to 1967 borders, they would vote against the accord and leave the government, according to Mr Yehuda Harel of the Third Way.

Rabbi Eliezer Waldman, who lives in the 400 member Jewish enclave amid Hebron's 120,000 Palestinians, accused Mr Netanyahu of betraying the settlers. "The founding fathers reached the point where it's better to bring down this government - than that this government bring down our dream and our belief," Rabbi Waldman said.

"We will do everything to convince a majority of the 18 members in the Netanyahu cabinet to vote against this agreement," said Mr Moshe Ben Zimra, a spokesman for the settler community in Hebron.

The heads of Jewish settlements in the West Bank held a meeting on a strategy for opposing any further handovers of territory to the Palestinians and said they may collectively resign to show their displeasure.

"Netanyahu was elected to lead the country a different direction than the previous government," said Mr Domb.

. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resumed their talks after a bomb scare disrupted their meeting last night.