Bill Clinton: 'I killed myself to give the Palestinians a state'

[shira]

13. An offer so awfully bad that Arafat wished he had accepted it....

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/jun/22/israel

The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, yesterday belatedly accepted a Middle East peace plan put forward 18 months ago by the then US president, Bill Clinton.

But the Israeli government said the offer, which was discussed by Israeli and Palestinian negotiators at Taba in Egypt in January last year, was no longer on the table.

The Israelis had claimed the Taba package was generous and that Mr Arafat had been foolish not to grab it. Mr Arafat had repeatedly insisted that it was far from generous.

But, in an interview published yesterday in the Israeli daily Haaretz, he said: "I am prepared to accept it, absolutely." During the interview, a Haaretz reporter put the Taba proposals to Mr Arafat and he endorsed each of them.

The main elements of the Taba plan include: a division of Jerusalem between Israelis and Palestinians; a compromise on the future of the 3.5 million Palestinian refugees; and creation of a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza.

Mr Arafat's willingness to accept a deal now will add to the sense of confusion and weakness surrounding his leadership. The mood among Palestinians has been turning against him.

His isolation was underscored yesterday when Jordan's King Abdullah claimed the Palestinian leader had lost control over Palestinian militant groups.

King Abdullah said: "Over the years I always thought Arafat was capable of controlling Palestinian public sentiment and extremism. I think that is no longer the case today."

Against a background of almost daily fatalities, there is no sign of a peace plan acceptable to Mr Arafat and the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon. The US president, George Bush, postponed until next week at the earliest a speech in which he is expected to sketch out ideas for the creation of a "transitional" Palestinian state.