Netanyahu to Push for Peace Talks

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to propose that Israel and the Palestinians immediately launch intensive negotiations, to be capped by a Camp David-style summit, to determine the final status of the Palestinian territories rather than proceed with a step-by-step implementation of Israeli withdrawals from the West Bank under the Oslo accords. In an interview with TIME editors on Wednesday, Netanyahu said he presented this idea to King Hussein of Jordan when he visited Jerusalem on Sunday. He characterized Jordanian and American reaction as being "intrigued." He said that the strategy of negotiating phased withdrawals created cycles of friction over relatively small issues and made it harder to tackle the big ones. He agreed that if the negotiations over the final status of the Palestinians failed after six months, he was still committed to implementing the Oslo accords.