SELLING THE PEACE

PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin are trying to persuade their respective governments to accept the peace plan they signed Sunday evening, just hours before the onset of the Rosh Hoshanah holiday. It won't be easy. Sam Allis reports from Jerusalem that a fractious debate is expected when the Israeli parliament meets Wednesday: "Benjamin Netanyahu, the opposition leader, is very unhappy with the deal and he could stir up a lot of trouble among the conservatives." Worse, Allis says, the Israeli government fears a violent reaction from radicals in both camps. "Hamas is expected to do something really nasty during Rosh Hoshanah, and if that happens you never know how Israeli radicals will retaliate." Under the agreement, Israeli troops will begin a withdrawal from Arab towns in the West Bank ten days after the deal is signed. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat will sign the accord in a White House ceremony on Thursday. "Although both sides want the photo op in Washington this week," says Allis, "it is clear that Rabin in particular needs it to maintain the shaky momentum of this process in the face of dwindling support among his people."