East Jerusalem

JERUSALEM - Of all the tough issues at Camp David, Jerusalem has proved the most intractable. And when the talks practically collapsed yesterday, the question of sovereignty over the holy city was widely believed to be the cause. The gaps were said to be too wide. Or are they? Given the white-hot passions over the issue among Israelis and Palestinians, neither side could be seen to have given up Jerusalem. It could cost Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak his job. Some say it could cost Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat his life.

JERUSALEM - For a deal to be reached at the Camp David summit, which starts next week, the leaders of Israel and the Palestinians will have to risk heavy political punishment and break free of a straitjacket created by their own rhetoric. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat go to Washington politically weakened, though not crippled. Barak's fragile hold on his coalition was further strained yesterday by the announced resignation from his government of Natan Sharansky, a respected figure and a leader of Israel's large community of Russian immigrants.

JERUSALEM -- Thousands of Israeli soldiers marched through Jerusalem yesterday on the anniversary of Israel's capture of East Jerusalem in 1967 and Israel's jubilee year with the largest military parade in more than 20 years.The annual Jerusalem Day march, expanded for the 50th anniversary of Israel, included jeep formations and a flyover by air force planes. It was a throwback to army parades in the years following the victory in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.Palestinians called the march a provocation, and critics on the Israeli left said it was a needless nationalist display.

JERUSALEM -- Israel and the Palestinian authority took a step yesterday toward reviving the moribund Middle East peace talks, although neither side offered any concessions on the critical issues that have deadlocked the process for months.Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy and Nabil Sha'ath, the Palestinian minister of planning and international cooperation, jointly announced a resumption of talks between committees discussing several secondary issues in the peace process. But Sha'ath emphasized that the critical issues that led to a deadlock -- the future of Jerusalem, construction of Israeli settlements and final status talks -- "still await solution."

WASHINGTON -- Pulled once again into the role of Middle East mediator, the Clinton administration will try this week to draw concessions from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on future construction in disputed areas and stronger action by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to prevent terrorism and violence.The opening moves in the effort to calm the latest crisis will come today, when President Clinton meets with Netanyahu.The prime minister's visit comes against the backdrop of mounting violence as Israelis and Palestinians stake out claims on one of the toughest issues preventing a lasting peace between them: Jerusalem.

JERUSALEM -- As Palestinians and Israeli troops clashed for an eighth day yesterday in the West Bank, President Clinton's Middle East envoy met with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in hopes of nudging the two into peace talks.Publicly, the Americans said one of envoy Dennis Ross' missions was to pressure Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to work firmly in cooperation with Israeli security against terror groups.But privately, according to knowledgeable diplomats, Ross was also said to have in hand a strong message from Clinton to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, requesting that Netanyahu show more flexibility in dealings with Arafat.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- A crowd of Palestinian youths hurled stones yesterday at Israeli soldiers who retaliated with tear gas and rubber bullets in the first disturbances since work began on a new neighborhood for Jews in nearby Arab East Jerusalem.The confrontation began at midday outside the tomb of the biblical matriarch Rachel, which is guarded by the Israeli army and fortified by a recently built concrete wall. The disturbance lasted several hours and spread to nearby streets as youngsters ran to escape the gas. No serious injuries were reported.

JERUSALEM -- Amid heavy security, Israel began work as promised on a controversial housing settlement in Arab East Jerusalem yesterday while Palestinians peacefully denounced the project from their perch on a nearby hilltop.Four bulldozers cut through the rocky slopes of the mountain Jews know as Har Homa. No incidents occurred there, despite warnings that the equipment's arrival would provoke violence. But the military kept most Palestinians from the site.When the bulldozers left the site around dusk, a small group of youngsters threw stones at the departing equipment.

JERUSALEM -- The Palestinians' unexpected refusal to accept Israel's decision on withdrawing from an additional 9.1 percent of the West Bank has thrown the negotiating process into a new crisis, in effect freezing contacts between the two sides only a week before talks on a final settlement were to resume.The confrontation also added yet another problem to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's deepening pile of political troubles as he left on a two-day trip to Russia.The planned withdrawal, which Israelis intended to complete this week, is stalled for now.Officials said it was not possible to withdraw without coordinating the action with the Palestinians, since more than 50 villages and about 200,000 people were involved.

ISRAEL AND the Palestinian Authority are each trying to change facts before beginning negotiations on the final status of Palestine this month. Each is outraged that the other is doing so.Israel's decision to begin construction of Har Homa, completing a ring of settlements around East Jerusalem, is a case in point. One purpose is to render impossible the incorporation of the Arab part of Jerusalem into the Palestinian state (be it sovereign or less). Denial of Jewish access to holy places when Jordan ruled East Jerusalem inspires the passion with which most Israelis demand the unity of Jerusalem.