Natural Sound
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has briefed his Cabinet on last week's Washington summit when he discussed plans for a troop redeployment in the West Bank with U-S President Bill Clinton.
Despite pressure from the Palestinian Authority and the U-S, the Israeli government has so far failed to reach a decision on the extent of the West Bank pullback - or when it will take place.
Sunday's Cabinet meeting took place amid reports that the U-S is likely to propose that Israel pull out of 12 percent of the West Bank in three stages.
Benjamin Netanyahu revealed details of his Washington trip to his Cabinet for the first time on Sunday.
Netanyahu met President Clinton to discuss progress on an agreement made with the Palestinian National Authority last year, under which Israel promised three troop withdrawals from the West Bank by the middle of 1998.
So far, none of the withdrawals has materialised, and the Clinton administration had urged Netanyahu to announce plans to carry out a redeployment in Washington.
The Palestinian Authority, whose leader, Yasser Arafat, also met President Clinton last week, has demanded that Israel withdraw from at least 60 percent of the West Bank immediately, before sitting down to talks on a final peace settlement.
But the Israeli Cabinet has still to make up its mind on how much of the West Bank it will evacuate - and when.
The Israeli government is reported to be considering a single pullout of 10 percent, but some days ago it published a 12-page list of conditions it insisted the Palestinians must meet before West Bank pullbacks will begin.
There were reports on Sunday that the U-S is likely to propose that Israel pull out of 12 percent of the West Bank in three stages over an 80-day period.
The proposal would suggest the pull back would be in return for a Palestinian fulfillment of security commitments.
U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is expected to raise the proposal with Netanyahu and Arafat in upcoming meetings.
Meanwhile, with tension running high over the stalemate in the peace process, Israeli security forces are still on high alert for possible attacks on civilians.
On Sunday, explosives experts blew up a suspicious object found in a Jerusalem bus station after police cleared the area.
Officials later confirmed that the object was an innocent package.
Suicide bombers from the armed Islamic group Hamas carried out a number of attacks in Jerusalem last year, killing dozens of people at a critical stage in the Arab-Israeli peace talks.
