Negotiations with Palestinians
Following months of intensive behind-the-scenes contacts in Oslo between negotiators for Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a Declaration of Principles (DOP) was formulated outlining self-government arrangements for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Its signing was preceded by an exchange of letters in September 1993 between PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, in which the PLO renounced the use of terrorism, pledged to invalidate those articles in its Covenant which deny Israel's right to exist and committed itself to a peaceful resolution of the decades-long conflict between the Palestinians and the Jews over the Land. In response, Israel recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people.
Signed by Israel and the PLO in Washington, DC in September 1993, the DOP contains a set of mutually agreed-upon general principles regarding a five-year interim period of Palestinian self-rule, to be implemented in four stages. The first step, setting up self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho area, took place in May 1994. In August of the same year, the second stage was introduced involving the transfer of powers and responsibilities to Palestinian representatives in the West Bank through early empowerment in five specific spheres - education and culture, health, social welfare, direct taxation and tourism. The Interim Israeli-Palestinian Agreement of September 1995, constituting the third stage, broadened Palestinian self-government in the West Bank by means of an elected self-governing authority - the Palestinian Council - to allow the Palestinians to conduct their own internal affairs.
The last stage - negotiations between the parties on final status arrangements - have yet to begin. These talks will determine the nature of the permanent settlement, covering remaining issues including refugees, settlements, security matters, borders, Jerusalem and other subjects of common interest.
On December 10, 1994, in recognition of their efforts to advance the cause of peace, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat were awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.
However, there have been numerous roadblocks in talks. First and foremost, since March there have been riots by Palestinians. Report by Israeli and American secret service claim to have undeniable evidence that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has been behind the riots. Furthermore, PLO has yet to revoke the clause that calls for complete destruction of Israel. Moreover, not didn't the PLO catch and convicted any terrorists, but they also released all the terrorists caught by Israel within the first half a year after they were arrested and convicted of terrorism. According to a study, in the first year of the
so-called "peace" there were 5 times more Jews killed than in all 7 years of intifada, which means that on average 35 times more people were killed per year. And the violence has only risen since.
The PLO has broken almost every promise. According to the Oslo agreement, PLO could only have 30,000 policemen, but according to the mayor of Hebron, who's an Arab, there are at least 60,000 policemen. PLO calls them the Palestinian Liberation Army which is a flagrant violation of the Oslo agreement. Also, according to the Oslo agreement, the amount and the type of guns used is limited. However, PLO police uses all types of guns in much larger amounts than they should according to the agreement. They even acquired anti-tank and anti-airplane machinery, which is once again a flagrant violation of the Oslo agreement. Therefore, the talks have been a failure.
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