Palestinian Autonomy

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, moving to jump-start the Middle East peace process with the help of a more receptive Israeli government, will send Secretary of State James A. Baker III to the region this weekend.Mr. Bush also has invited Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to Kennebunkport, Maine, next month, it was announced yesterday.Mr. Bush spoke by telephone with Mr. Rabin yesterday as Israel's Parliament formally installed the new Labor-led government. A White House statement said Mr. Rabin voiced a desire to give new momentum to the peace process.

TABA, Egypt -- Israeli officials yesterday suggested that negotiations for the start of Palestinian autonomy have been set back two months and repeated warnings Israel may ignore the deadlines for withdrawal of its troops."

Israel's agreement to the stationing of 160 Norwegian, Danish and Italian soldiers as observers in the Hebron area has put the PLO-Israel negotiations back on track to quick-start Palestinian autonomy in Gaza and Jericho by the end of April.The Sept. 13 White House accord is alive again. Bilateral talks between Israel and its neighbors Syria, Lebanon and Jordan are resuming with seriousness of purpose. Peace between Israel and its neighbors is again within sight.This is quite an achievement by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and Chairman Yasser Arafat of the PLO, after the shock of the Feb. 25 massacre of 30 Palestinians at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron by the American-Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein.

JERUSALEM -- An Islamic militant leader who was killed by a car bomb in the Gaza Strip this week was planning a car-bomb attack inside Israel, the Israeli press reported yesterday.In the most detailed article, the newspaper Haaretz identified the bomb victim, Hani Abed, as leader of the military wing of theIslamic Holy War group and an organizer of past attacks in which Israelis were killed.The information was not attributed to any source, but it bore the imprint of Israel's security services.

Implementation of the Israel-PLO agreement for Palestinian autonomy is running behind schedule because each side is reluctant to deal with those of its own citizens trying to torpedo it.Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and Chairman Yasser Arafat of the PLO are scheduled to meet next week in Gaza to overcome roadblocks that have stalemated the negotiating process at a lower level. They have done this before, but never in circumstances so conducive to pessimism.The PLO has failed to demonstrate it is doing what it can to suppress terrorism against Israelis and the agreement.

IF THE PEACE PROCESS in the Middle East stops, the terrorists wion. If Israel and Syria never swap land for peace, the terrorists win. If Palestinian autonomy is frozen as is, the terrorists win.If failure of the PLO to progress toward statehood brings its downfall, the terrorists win. If Israelis are provoked to vote in on May 29 a government that will end the peace process, the terrorists win.At first blush, it may be tempting to blame the nine-day rampage...

ISRAEL'S AUTHORIZATION of 6,300 apartments in Arab land between East Jerusalem and Bethlehem endangers more than the peace process. It puts at risk Israel's wider acceptance as a player on the world stage.Israel has benefited in outreach since engaging the PLO in a peace process and starting Palestinian autonomy. While Palestinians were threatening violence against this long-bruited encroachment on West Bank territory they consider theirs, other things were going on.Ezer Weizman was making the first state visit of an Israeli president to Britain.

THE HAPPY FESTIVAL of Purim was marred in Israel by two atrocities that are all too familiar. They do not justify a relaxation in the search for peace. Nor do they vindicate construction of an Israeli housing development at Har Homa, extending Jerusalem. They do serve to remind the world of attacks that Israelis have had to endure.President Clinton rightly responded by sending Middle East envoy Dennis Ross back to rescue an accord he had only recently cobbled back together. He may not succeed, but the potential loss is too great not to make the effort.

Israel's voters went beyond predictions in throwing out the Likud government and putting Labor in charge. In fact, with some 35 percent of the vote and 45 of the 120 Knesset seats, Yitzhak Rabin's Labor Party cannot have everything its own way. It must make a coalition, first with the Meretz bloc which is more dovish than Labor, then with at least one other small party. But the purpose of the voters is clear: to negotiate more flexibly and earnestly for peace with the Palestinians and Arab states than outgoing Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir was willing to do.General Rabin is no pushover.

There is a glimmer of light in the endless Middle East peace talks. The sixth round, which suspended for the Jewish High Holy Days after four weeks in Washington, produced some momentum. This was not at the table, but in public comment by the participants outside the room. They are all coming back to Washington Oct. 21.Palestinians have expressed greater confidence in Israel's intentions, based on Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's public comments. The actual Rabin bargaining team and its tactics on Palestinian autonomy have not departed much from the previous regime of Yitzhak Shamir.