Israel approves Arafat 's flight to West Bank .  JERUSALEM 1996-08-22  Israel gave Palestinian President Yasser Arafat permission on Thursday to fly over its territory to the West Bank , ending a brief Israeli-PLO crisis , an Arafat adviser said .  " The problem is over .  The president 's aircraft has received permission to pass through Israeli airspace but the president is not expected to travel to the West Bank before Monday , " Nabil Abu Rdainah told Reuters .  Arafat had been scheduled to meet former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres in the West Bank town of [START_ENT] Ramallah [END_ENT] on Thursday but the venue was changed to Gaza after Israel denied flight clearance to the Palestinian leader 's helicopters .  Palestinian officials accused right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to stop the Ramallah meeting by keeping Arafat grounded .  Arafat subsequently cancelled a meeting between Israeli and PLO officials , on civilian affairs , at the Allenby Bridge crossing between Jordan and the West Bank .  Abu Rdainah said Arafat had decided against flying to the West Bank on Thursday , after Israel lifted the ban , because he had a busy schedule in Gaza and would not be free until Monday .
Ramallah