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Bringing in the New Year

© lawhawk

1998 will apparently begin the same way that 1997 did; no end to the violence and discord among the participants of the peace process. Israel and the Palestinian Authority continue to bicker about who needs to do what and both say that the other side needs to do much more to bring the peace process forward. Most pro-Israel papers, including The Jewish Press all point to the Palestinian Authority's insistence upon getting large swaths of land in the West Bank and a failure to crack down on terrorism as a source of the lack of a breakthrough. Some articles even point to President Clinton as a reason for the lack of movement since President Clinton has taken a strong tone in dealing with Prime Minister Netenyahu's policies. President Clinton has wanted the Israeli government to announce the size of the withdrawal and has tried to get Israel to make substantial concessions but the Israeli cabinet has been steadfast in their refusal to give concrete detials.

Through the first phase of the Oslo Accords, Israel has thus far returned 30 percent of land in the West Bank. Of the remaining 70 percent of land that Israel controls in the West Bank, Israel has suggested a further 10 percent should be returned in this current phase and the remaining 60 percent should be negotiated in the final status. The Palestinian Authority continues to demand that 60 percent of the West Bank should be returned with the remaining 10 percent to be negotiated in the final phase. Most Israeli military planners have publically stated that this isn't feasible as they need to ensure Israeli security through maintaining a corridor of 8-12 miles along the borders of the West Bank. This clearly places Israeli leaders on a direct path for confrontation with US and Palestinian negotiators.

What do we have to look forward to in 1998? Some things to look forward to in 1998 include continued problems between Iraq and its neighbors as Iraqi President Hussein will try to test the limits of embargos and other national leaders as he tries to bring his country out from under the UN embargo. The US will try and improve relations with Iran and there will be a thaw in relations between the two countries, but not to the point of normalizing relations. Egypt will have continued problems with fundamentalists and terrorist attacks and point the finger at Iran for sponsoring the terrorism. Saudi Arabia will have a stronger role in the peace process as their tremendous economic resources could be brought to bear to aid the Palestinian Authority meet the needs of the Palestinians.

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