JERUSALEM (AP) -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday accused Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat of "making a farce" of the Wye River peace accords and said he would not agree to further troop withdrawals until there was a halt to anti-Israel violence.
Netanyahu, in an interview with The Associated Press, said the Palestinians were encouraged to foment street riots and threaten to declare statehood."The Palestinians are making a farce out of the Wye River accord. They think they have the United States in their back pocket," said the Israeli leader. "As long as that is the case, they will not change their behavior."
Netanyahu said he did not believe the United States was siding with the Palestinians, but his remarks sent a strong signal that he would like President Clinton to intervene and lower Palestinian expectations prior to his Dec. 12-15 trip.
Palestinians claim Israel has violated the summit agreement reached in October by not freeing jailed political activists, confiscating West Bank land for roads and allowing Jewish settlers to seize hilltops for expansion.
Ahmed Qureia, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the head of the peace team that negotiated the Oslo accords, told reporters Sunday "all means of resistance" was justified in opposing settler activity.
Netanyahu, who rejected claims of settlement expansion as "bunk," was interviewed in the Cabinet room after a meeting of his unruly coalition government, which rallied behind him on his tough stance.