Documents / Official release
This Clinton Presidential Library folder of NSC cables, filed under "Flying Saucer or UFO" and covering January to September 1997, holds several cables plus a withdrawal sheet listing three redacted items. A Tel Aviv embassy media report notes an Israeli cartoon about a January 5 UFO alert. An FBIS translation reports that a Colombian helicopter landed in Rubio, Venezuela, prompting UFO speculation. A DoD briefing transcript quotes Kenneth Bacon saying a CIA study found no evidence of UFOs, and an FBIS summary covers Cuban radio claims about the 1947 New Mexico crash.
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
CASPIT REPORTED IN THE LEAD STORY OF POPULAR, PLURALIST MAARIV (1/8): "THE U.S. WANTS TO CIRCUMVENT THE REDEPLOYMENT TIMETABLE CONTROVERSY WHICH HAS BEEN STANDING IN THE WAY OF THE HEBRON AGREEMENT BY PROVIDING THE PALESTINIANS WITH A LETTER SPELLING OUT THE PULLBACK'S 'TIMEFRAME' ... AMERICAN SOURCES SAID THAT THE U.S. IS GOING TO OFFER A 'TIMEFRAME,' AND NOT A RIGID DATE, FOR THE LAST ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL ... THE AMERICANS APPEAR TO FEEL THAT ISRAELI REDEPLOYMENT SHOULD BE COMPLETED NOT LATER THAN MARCH OF 1998. IT APPEARS THAT DESPITE THE ISRAELI LEAKS THAT THE PRIME MINISTER WANTS THE WITHDRAWAL TO LAST UNTIL MAY 1999, ISRAEL DID NOT MENTION THIS IN THE NEGOTIATIONS. WHAT NETANYAHU DID WAS REITERATE HIS REFUSAL TO SET ANY DATE OR TIMETABLE ... CHAIRMAN ARAFAT WAS ANGRY OVER WHAT HE CALLED 'DELIBERATE ISRAELI LEAKS'." ## III. "TENSION BETWEEN ARAFAT AND MUBARAK" MAARIV REPORTED IN ANOTHER STORY (1/8) THAT, ACCORDING TO ISRAELI SOURCES, CHAIRMAN ARAFAT HAS BEEN DISPLAYING GROWING UNEASE OVER EGYPTIAN "OVER- INVOLVEMENT" IN THE HEBRON TALKS WHICH, ARAFAT REPORTEDLY FEARS, MAY YET CREATE A CRISIS IN PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN RELATIONS AND RISK DISRUPTING U.S. ASSISTANCE TO THE PA. ## IV. "NETANYAHU'S DISPLAY OF WEAKNESS" MAARIV VETERAN COLUMNIST YOSEF HARIF OPINED (1/8): "IT APPEARS THAT DENNIS ROSS' THREATS TO TAKE THE NEXT PLANE HOME FAIL TO IMPESS YASSER ARAFAT ... ARAFAT KNOWS THAT IT TAKE STRONG NERVES TO CARVE OUT A GOOD DEAL ... ARAFT ALSO KNOWS THAT THE AMERICANS AND THE ISRAELISWOULD NOT DARE WALK AWAY BECAUSE OF 'JUST ONE MOE TINY CONCESSION.' HE UNCLAS SECTION 04 OF 05 TEL AVIV 000222 ## USIA STATE PASS BIB STATE FOR NEA/IAI, NEA/P, INR, HA, IO, S/P, PA, PM USIA FOR NEA, I/GNEA, R/NA, I/RF, I/RFW, B/G, B/TVP, B/TVW B/BXA, M/PA, M/PF, M/PFN, B/A, B/VOA/N, B/VOA/C WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE WHITE HOUSE SIT ROOM JERUSALEM ALSO FOR VOA JERUSALEM ALSO FOR ICD LONDON ALSO FOR POL - TUELLER PARIS ALSO FOR POL - ALLEGRONE ROME FOR MFO NICOSIA FOR ILMG E.O. 12958: N/A
Official release, from the nara collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 48 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.