THERE is Hebron, and there is beyond Hebron. At the moment the Israeli-Palestinian talks are bogged down on the first item dividing them, let alone the other issues still ahead.
Israel claims that it is not seeking to alter the agreement already reached (but not implemented) on withdrawal from the last of the seven West Bank cities handed over to Palestinian self-rule. It is only seeking to “change the modalities”.
These include taking away the existing right of Palestinian police to carry weapons in Hebron, and giving Israeli soldiers a new right of hot pursuit into the city. Nor has Israel yet agreed to reopen the main thoroughfare from which the indigenous population has been banned for two years.
To the Palestinian Authority, these are much more than “modalities”. As Dr Nabil Shaath said, the right of hot pursuit means that the Israelis have not, after all, withdrawn. To restrict the liberty of 100,000 Arabs because of a small colony of 400 Jews in the heart of Hebron is patently unfair.
More fundamentally, says Dr Shaath, to change the agreement “even by one comma” would open the entire set of agreements to being revised. The fact is that by entering into these negotiations at all, the Palestinian Authority has accepted the need to make concessions. Its problem is how to limit their extent.
Yasser Arafat this week took a break, proceeding on his scheduled European tour. Binyamin Netanyahu claims that this is “foot- dragging” – a rich claim from the Likud leader who has held up the peace process since he was elected.
No doubt Arafat is hoping to gain by the delay, but sooner rather than later, the signs are that they are going to settle on Hebron. The question is whether Netanyahu can see beyond his immediate advantage to the abyss which will open up in the longer term.
He is still being given the benefit of the doubt by Arafat and his ministers. They hope he is beginning to realise just how dangerously this could end. The streets are quiet again in spite of the recent clashes: there have been no terrorist bombs since the election.
Many other Palestinians are less forgiving. If Netanyahu can be persuaded to realise it, he has a window of opportunity to become not just a smart leader but a great one.