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Clinton Warns Palestinians Against Unilateral Declaring PalestinianState
US President Bill Clinton said in a radio interview broadcast here Friday that in light of the botched Camp David summit, he strongly opposes a unilateral Palestinian state declaration.
In an exclusive interview with Israel Radio corresponds in Washington, Clinton said: "I think it would be a big mistake to take a unilateral action and walk away from the peace process, and if it happens, there will inevitably be consequences not just here but throughout the world. I mean that things will happen."
The interview was reportedly aimed to boost Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's morale after the 15-day-long summit at Camp David, attended by Clinton, Barak, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, collapsed on Tuesday and failed to reach any agreement.
The Palestinians had asserted repeatedly in the past few months that even if they could not reach an agreement with Israel, they will declare an independent Palestinian state unilaterally on September 13, the seventh anniversary of the Oslo Israeli-Palestinian accord which began the peace process.
In response, Barak's government counter-threatened recently that if the Palestinians resort to unilateral acts, it will consider annexing 60 percent of the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip lands, which was seized by Israel after the 1967 Middle East War.
Such a scenario, analysts believe, would lead to widespread, even bloody, violence between Israel and the Palestinians, which in turn will cast clouds over the whole peace process.
Clinton said Friday that despite the summit failure, he is still convinced that an agreement regarding the declaration of a Palestinian state can be reached between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority before the September 13 deadline.
The president confirmed that it is possible to hold another summit in the next few weeks. If the next summit succeeds, he probably will pay a visit to the Middle East to personally promote the reached agreement, which will resolving all the core issues between the two sides, including the fate of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, Jewish settlements, border, security and water.
To reach the target, Clinton said, both Barak and Arafat should be willing to compromise on crucial issues.
Clinton also admitted that he had hoped that the Camp David summit could result in a peace deal because "dramatic progress was made regarding security arrangements and a final status agreement."
The failure, he claimed, left less time for him to promote an Israeli-Palestinian agreement in U.S. Congress for financial aids to the two sides.
The president will officially step down at the beginning of next year, but his political maneuver will bear few fruits after November, when the American presidential race will elect a new leader.
The Palestinians are asking for US and international financial aids, about 20 billion US dollars, for its development and compensation for Palestinian refugees. Israel also hopes to get billions of US dollars for its security purposes after an Israeli-Palestinian accord. The Israeli media had heralded since Friday morning that there will be a special Clinton interview. Israel Radio broadcast excerpts from the interview and it was reported that the full interview will appear on Israeli Channel One Television's Weekly Journal Show Friday night.
It is expected that in the full interview, Clinton will fervidly endorse Barak's peace efforts at Camp David to help the prime minister get through his internal political crisis.
Barak are facing three no-confidence motions and an early-election bill in the parliament next week. All these motions are related, directly or indirectly, to the summit talks.
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