PALESTINIANS AND ISRAELIS ATTEND MEETING ON SECURITY COOPERATION

ISRAEL LINE
THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 1997

  A secret meeting was held Wednesday night between Israeli, American and
Palestinian representatives after the U.S. Government put pressure on the
Palestinian Authority to participate, YEDIOT AHARONOT reported. The meeting
was held in Yasser Arafat's Gaza Strip office, and was attended by Arafat,
the head of the Israeli General Security  Service, Ami Ayalon, and U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency representatives.
  The meeting concerned the re-establishment of security cooperation between
Israel and the Palestinians.
  During the meeting, the three sides agreed that, even though political
problems still exist, security cooperation must continue for everyone's
benefit. All parties agreed that they will use all possible means to prevent
violent confrontations. The ongoing war against terrorism was discussed in
the meeting, as well as the creation of a mechanism for coordination and
cooperation.
  According to the newspaper, the Americans said that if the Palestinians
refused to attend the meeting, or if they did not agree to resume
cooperation with Israel on security issues, then the Palestinian delegation
arriving in Washington today would not be received.





ISRAEL LINE