Peace Process

Since the beginning of the Oslo process, Israel and the United States have consistently underestimated Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Yasser Arafat. Arafat is a historic figure who deserves respect. In his many years as leader of the Palestinians he has learned to employ a wide range of personas and emotions

With Arab League foreign ministers, meeting in Cairo today, taking their most critical stance against Israel since the start of the Madrid peace process—"recommending" that member-states "stop all normalization" with Israel, suspend participation in the multilateral talks, and "reactivate" the Arab boycott—tomorrow's meeting between President Clinton and Jordan's King Hussein

Before Israel's elections last May, Washington warned that the peace process could fail under the leadership of a Likud-led coalition. No one expected that nine months later, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government would have established almost daily contact with the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its head, Yasser Arafat, redeployed

Who lives there? Most of the Jewish residents in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and Gaza are Israeli-born, white collar, young couples. The median age in Israel is twenty-nine, however in the territories the median age is nineteen. This high number of young people is one explanation for the

So far, 1997 has not been a good year for Syrian President Hafiz al-Assad. It began with a deadly New Year's eve bombing in the heart of Syria's capital, which was followed soon after by the Palestinians' first signed agreement with a Likud government. The Hebron accord marked a reversal

The common assumptions that the European Union and the United States are two contending partners in their efforts to bring peace to the Middle East, and that the EU has a marginal, secondary role in this process compared to the United States, are incorrect. The EU has long demonstrated a

Last week's Washington Post highlighted a major loophole in U.S. anti-terrorism sanctions: an exemption to the 1996 Anti-Terrorism Act that specifically authorizes U.S. financial transactions with Sudan and Syria, two countries officially designated as state sponsors of terrorism. However, this loophole is just one of several avenues through which U.S

Today's agreement is actually a package that includes: a protocol on security in Hebron and Israel's redeployment, a U.S. "Note for the Record" (reproduced below), U.S. letters of assurance, and a U.S. plan of assistance. Moreover, the accord is comprised of three different elements. It deals first with the present

If negotiators overcome eleventh-hour Palestinian demands and conclude an agreement on Hebron redeployment, this accord would mark a milestone in the Middle East peace process: the first signed agreement between a Likud government and the Palestinians. With significant U.S. encouragement, the two sides will have managed to overcome the intense