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November 20, 1998/ 1 Kislev 5759, Vol. 51, No. 9
Knesset approves Wye pact, but rhetoric heats up
NAOMI SEGAL
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM - Even as the Israeli Knesset moved to approve the Wye accord this week, the two parties to the peace process have renewed their war of words less than a month after they signed a land-for-security deal at the White House.
To the dismay of the United States, which brokered the Wye agreement, both Israel and the Palestinian Authority have returned to inflammatory rhetoric, threatening further delay in its implementation. The rhetoric from both sides heated up as U.S. Middle East envoy Dennis Ross was visiting the region to oversee implementation of the Wye accord.
While cooler heads seemed to prevail by midweek, statements by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat threatening to use violence against Israel, and by Israeli Foreign Minster Ariel Sharon exhorting settlers to grab more West Bank land, revealed deeper problems that both sides will face. Even if the Wye accord is implemented, these problems are likely to resurface in the final-status negotiations.
The accord, which ended a 19-month stalemate in the peace process, was expected to usher in a new period of Israeli-Palestinian cooperation. And in an effort to restore some spirit of cooperation, Arafat reiterated his commitment to the peace process at a news conference in Jericho on Nov. 17. "We are protective of the peace process in the Middle East and all the peace agreements we signed with the Israelis," Arafat said. "Peace is a Palestinian strategic choice, and (we want) any differences in the final-status negotiations, to be solved by peaceful means through negotiations, and not in any other way."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Arafat's remarks a "positive" development. "From my perspective, an important obstacle was overcome."
The obstacle emerged Monday, Nov. 16, when Arafat, addressing a gathering of Fatah members in the West Bank town of Ramallah, reiterated his intention to declare Palestinian statehood next May. The event was held to mark the Palestinian declaration of independence issued 10 years ago in Algiers. In addition to reiterating his vow to declare a Palestinian state, Arafat told the Fatah members, "Our rifles are ready, and we are prepared to use them against whoever tries to prevent us from praying in Jerusalem."
Reacting to Arafat's comments Netanyahu announced, just as the Knesset began debating the Wye agreement, that he was suspending a West Bank redeployment slated for this week. The Wye accord calls for an Israeli pullback from 13 percent of the West Bank.
Israel's Parliament approved the Wye peace accord by a vote of 75-19, with nine Knesset members abstaining. Absent from the Knesset during the vote were seven of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's own Cabinet ministers. The vote came late Nov. 17 at the end of two days of heated debate on the latest Israeli-Palestinian agreement, including a review of maps detailing the West Bank areas from which Israel will redeploy.
Both Arafat and Netanyahu face strong internal opposition to the Wye accord, and their respective declarations can well be viewed as an attempt to soften that opposition.
JTA correspondents Gil Sedan in Jerusalem and Matthew Dorf in Washington contributed to this report.
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