Formally accepting Yasser Arafat as a peace partner, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met today for the first time with the Palestinian leader he had long shunned and reviled as a terrorist. After meeting for more than an hour, Netanyahu said he was committed to carrying out peace agreements Arafat had signed with Israel's previous dovish government. Arafat also expressed his readiness to move forward. The encounter constitutes the first recognition of Arafat by an Israeli premier from the hard-line Likud Party, which has long opposed Israel-PLO peacemaking. Linda Gradstein reports.
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