Relations with the United States are strained, too. The Clinton administration, which backed Peres, is skeptical about Netanyahu’s commitment to peace. This week Netanyahu will receive a visit from Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who is coming to Jerusalem – at the young prime minister’s request – to brief him on America’s view of the peace process. This task might ordinarily be reserved for a more junior Foggy Bottom official. But Christopher is traveling to Jerusalem as a ““gesture’’ to Netanyahu, says a U.S. diplomat. And the secretary of state may well want to hear firsthand how Israel’s prime minister plans to fulfill his promise to provide ““peace with security.’’ Netanyahu insists that he and President Clinton ““will have no problem renewing and strengthening what has been – on the whole – a very good relationship.’’ Ever the politician, he is quick to add that he likes Bob Dole, too. ““I’ve known him over the years,’’ he notes, stressing that Dole’s support for moving America’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem ““was an important signal.''
The signal that worries Arabs is what they call ““the three no’s’’ that marked Netanyahu’s campaign rhetoric: no to a Palestinian state, no to any compromise on Israel’s sovereignty over a united Jerusalem and no to a surrender of the Golan Heights to Syria. But the prime minister’s comments to NEWSWEEK last week revealed a more nuanced – and hopeful – approach. The peace process remains, but Netanyahu envisages a different process. He is willing to talk and to compromise. He’s willing even to leave open the question of trading land for peace, but only if an eventual deal provides genuine peace of mind for his people. ““What is peace if not the achievement of tranquillity?’’ Netanyahu asks. ““If the accompaniment of so-called peace involves continued flare-ups, bus bombings, violence and terrorism, this is not peace.''
When hard-line Likud leader Menachem Begin was elected in 1977, Netanyahu reminded me, Washington despaired about the chances for peace. But it was Begin who signed a treaty with Egypt two years later. ““It turned out differently,’’ says the new prime minister. ““They are saying [similar things] about me today – and things will likely turn out differently.''
In his inaugural speech Netanyahu pointedly left Arafat’s name off the list of Arab leaders he mentioned. Will the Palestinian be off the visiting list as well? No, says Netanyahu: ““If I deem it important for Israel’s security and interests that I meet with Arafat, I will not rule it out.’’ Indeed, preliminary contacts with the PLO have already been initiated at Netanyahu’s direction. When it comes to Syrian President Hafez Assad, the Israeli prime minister is looking for ““direct dialogue’’ between Damascus and Jerusalem. And while Netanyahu doesn’t plan to give up the Golan Heights – Syria’s central demand – he indicates that there is room in which to talk. ““We need to build confidence between us. We need to develop trust. I’m interested in a Syrian-Israeli peace, but not one based on our withdrawal from the Golan, which I think would produce a short-term celebration but a long-term danger to our ability to defend the north of the country.’’ He acknowledges that domestic political considerations may make it hard for either side to go beyond its public declarations, and if ““there’s no readiness on the Syrian side for full normalization, then we have to look at other possibilities. I believe that there are areas that should be explored – if there’s a willingness to engage in discreet dialogue.''
Where Peres sometimes accepted implicit promises, Netanyahu wants explicit agreements, especially from Arafat. ““Governments keep commitments, and we expect the same from other parties, foremost from the Palestinians,’’ he declares unambiguously. ““So far, what we have agreed upon is Oslo I and Oslo II, and we are prepared to negotiate further, including a final settlement with the Palestinian Authority – providing it keeps its obligations. Agreements are made to be kept.’’ If they are, Netanyahu indicates, ““we will definitely enter the talks about future status.''
The security concerns of individual Israelis played a large role in pushing Netanyahu into office. He believes the country’s best hope for increased security lies in continuing cooperation between Israeli and PLO security forces. ““What is clear from the experience of the last few months – since the spate of bombings in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv – is that the Palestinian Authority has the ability to control terrorism and to prevent these kinds of attacks against Israel. This is what we expect them to do,’’ says Netanyahu. ““We reserve, of course, the right to act in our own self-defense, at any time, as the need arises. [But] this doesn’t nullify their obligation to do what they have been showing they can do – keeping a check on violent surges by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.''
If Arafat fails in this, Netanyahu warns, ““we are not prepared to go back to the pattern of terrorist attacks and Israeli passivity.’’ But the prime minister is not enthusiastic about initiating a ““hot pursuit’’ policy that would send Israeli troops after terrorist suspects even if the latter fled to Palestinian-controlled areas. Such moves could provoke confrontations with Palestinian police, perhaps even outright guerrilla war. ““I hope we are not going to have to go down that road,’’ Netanyahu says. He insists, however, that Israel never actually surrendered the right to hot pursuit. ““But this doesn’t mean we should seek such a policy.’’ According to Netanyahu, they want ““a climate of compliance.''
This won’t be easy, especially if Netanyahu tries to accommodate the West Bank settlers who enthusiastically supported his campaign. His plan is to designate ““security and settlement zones’’ alongside the autonomous Palestinian areas. ““We, of course, will build in these areas,’’ he says without reservation, although ““it will take some time to define a precise pattern for the settlements.’’ Netanyahu notes that some of the existing settlements have become ““urban communities which have a natural pattern of growth and development.’’ He suggests that ““this is something that should continue naturally, just as the Arab villages and towns should continue their growth, unabated.''
But violent confrontations between armed settlers and Palestinians are not likely to end any time soon. And a critical test of Israel’s willingness to keep its diplomatic obligations looms in Hebron, where 450 Jewish settlers are surrounded by 100,000 Arabs. Hebron is the last Palestinian city on the West Bank in which Israeli forces are still stationed; under existing agreements, the troops are due to redeploy by pulling back to the immediate environs of the Jewish enclave. Still, a vicious 1929 pogrom and Arab hostility give the settlers a siege mentality; meanwhile, ever since one settler murdered 39 Palestinians in a mosque two years ago, the general climate has been poisonous. The Jewish enclave, moreover, might well be difficult to defend. Netanyahu, in any event, is inclined to redeploy. But he is considering a new formula that would link the settlement inside the city to a larger one, Kiryat Arba, on its outskirts.
““It’s not an easy task,’’ he acknowledges. And, indeed, much the same might be said of the entire set of problems confronting Israel’s new – and youngest ever – prime minister.
