1996 has been a very turbulent year for Israel. This lies in the assassination of Yitzhak
Rabin on November 4, 1995. Rabin's great work in the peace process with it's Arab
neighbors has been nearly reversed by Israel's newly elected Prime Minister, Benjamin
Netanyahu, who actively opposed the peace process in the election. Netanyahu's term of
service has not only affected Israel politically but also socially, intellectually,
religiously, and economically.
In dealing with Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians Netanyahu was originally quoted
saying that he would only meet with Arafat under special circumstances and that, "the era
of one-sided giving was over." Warren Christopher, Secretary of State for the U.S., was
able to arrange a peace conference with Arafat on the Gaza border. One article called it
a , "Psychological breakthrough" (Netanyahu meets with Clinton). The issues at hand were
Israel fulfilling it's pledge to the Palestinians to redeploy it's troops stationed in
the West Bank town of Hebron so that they will only guard the 440 Jews who live there,
from the tens of thousands of Palestinians. Also at issue were the exit permits given to
Palestinians allowing them to go from there jobs in Israel to there homes in Gaza and the
and the West Bank. That leads to another issue over whether or not a rail link between
Gaza and the West Bank should be formed. The major problem with that would be the cost.
In the next round of Israeli-PLO peace talks, both sides could not reach a compromise and
after four hours talks failed. To complicate matters further 3,000 houses were approved
to be built in the West Bank by the Israeli government. "Peace Now spokesman", Alon
Arnon, called the housing, "A final burial of the hope of peace." (West Bank Settlement
Approved) Netanyahu also ended the month by opening a tunnel to Muslim and Jewish Holy
sites that resulted in bloody riots that killed 76 people.
The month of October cooled down a bit with an ice breaking summit in Washington.
Netanyahu returned with a change in attitude calling Arafat a person whom he could
resolve problems with. But aside from his change in demeanor no substantial agreements
were made.
In November Israel went on high alert in fear of an attack planned to disrupt the peace
process, possibly on the one year anniversary of the Jihad's leader Fathi Shakaki. Again
the peace effort was thrown back when the Israeli government announced plans to double
the number of Jewish settlers in the West Bank. At one point Netanyahu asked the U.S.
and Germany to help use their influence in Iran and Syria to hold the terrorists at bay.
Arafat also grew tired of what he considered to be stalling on the part of the Israeli
government. He called for plans already agreed to, to be put in motion. Netanyahu then
makes a statement that he envisions, "A Palestinian entity with broad power," but fell
short of declaring full independence. One article called this a sign that Netanyahu was,
"moving towards the Israeli political center."(Netanyahu Mulls Palestine Land) Towards
the end of November peace talks tookplace about the redeployment of troops in Hebron.
The main issue that stalled the talks was Israel's insistence on written agreements that
Israeli troops could chase Palestinian suspects into the city.
In December, peace talks continued and as of now a decision was on the verge of being
reached once final details were worked out. On January 1, 1997 a Jewish military
officer, believed to be mentally disturbed ,walked into a Palestinian market and opened
fire. Waving after being arrested he said, "Hebron, always and forever."
Israel also had some serious problems with it's Arab neighboring countries. In
September Israeli forces launched air and ground attacks to counter Lebanese guerrillas
who had ambushed an Israeli patrol. The guerrillas are part of Hezbollah, or party of
god. Shortly after the attack Lebanon moved 300 commandos to the southern border to, as
a Lebanese statement says, "cope with any Israeli venture in the region." Both Israel
and Lebanon are under investigation to find if they had broken any cease-fire
agreements.
Jordan, Israel's closest Arab ally issued a blunt statement to Israel declaring,
"Anything can happen if peace is not achieved."(Rift widening quickly between Israel and
Jordan) Hussein attended a luncheon with Netanyahu, Clinton, and Arafat saying, "What you
need sir, is not the arrogance of power but the vision that Rabin had... Maybe one day
you will have it."
Israeli-Syrian relations also were greatly strained. Syrian peace talks have been
greatly strained since the May terrorist attacks. As a precondition for opening up peace
talks Syria is demanding the Golan Heights, an area of tremendous strategic value and
Israel's only ski resort, to be given back to them. In September, Syria pressured Israel
by moving troops closer to Israel along the Lebanon border. But eventually both sides
withdrew. As of now both sides are at a stand still while Netanyahu continues to approve
housing for the Golan Heights.
The increase of Jewish settlements also angered Egypt another of Israel's allies in the
Arab world. The West Bank housing will, said an Egyptian official, "Destroy trust
between Israel and it's Arab neighbors."
Socially Israel has it's share of problems. In November an Israeli lawmaker who
advocated a crackdown on violence against women was "under the spotlight" for allegedly
beating his own wife. Haim Dayan was once talking about wife abusers and said, "I would
slice their hands to pieces so that would be the last time they ever raised their hand to
a women."(Israeli Lawmaker under spotlight) The women's rights group, Naamat, estimates
that one in every four women are or will be assaulted by their partners. The reason for
this says Naamat spokeswomen, Carmel is, "The level of violence and anger is very high
...and it's influences the family situation. Another Israeli agreed, "Israelis still
live by the sword"
Violence is also frequently seen in the Israeli abuse towards Palestinians. In November
two Israeli border guards were arrested after being video taped beating and kicking six
Palestinian laborers. Israeli and Palestinian human rights activists claim that such
beatings happen all the time and are designed to instill fear in Palestinians so that
they will not try to get into Israel illegally. In response Yasser Arafat said he would
distribute video cameras to Palestinians living near the checkpoints to monitor further
violence.
Another trend with Israel socially is the ever growing flow of foreigners into Israel
from Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. The foreigners complain of discrimination
and abuse from employers who pay low wages and house them in rat infested hotels. The
Labor Ministry estimates that there are 300,000 foreign workers in Israel and two thirds
of them have overstayed visas and are there illegally. One immigrant commented on the
abuse saying, "Society tolerates it because these people are not Jews."
On the lighter side there has been a dramatic increase in the UFO sightings over the
Israeli skies. Skeptics say, "Israelis are simply being swept away by the U.S. pop
culture." The movie Independence day and the series X-Files are big hits in Israel. A
recent Israeli pole finds that one in every two people believe in Aliens.
Intellectually there has been little change in Israel. One Palestine city was connected
to the internet in November. When a West Bank University tried to lease dedicated lines
to be hooked up to the university it got the run-around from Israel, so it turned to a
new technology developed in Israel, wireless microwave communications. The technology's
founder says he estimates to have 3,000 clients a year from now hooked up to the
internet.
Religiously there has been many developments in Israel. On September 22 Israel marked a
day of atonement, Yom Kippur. Yasser Arafat called Netanyahu to wish him a happy New
Year. On Christmas eve thousands of pilgrims filled Bethlehem's 1,600 year old church to
celebrate Christmas. At the mass's sermon the priest criticized Israel's rough treatment
of Palestinians and religious leaders on both sides that foster extremism.
Economically Israel has suffered under Netanyahu's hard-line attitude. Some cold facts
include:
Exports rose only 4 percent(a third of the recent average increase)
Tourism is down 10 percent
Unemployment rose with Israel's high tech industry reporting losses.
The GNP spent on the military, currently a 10th is now rising.
Netanyahu argued that these problems are inherited but experts cite rising Arab-Israeli
conflict scaring away foreign investment. Koor Industries, Israel's largest industrial
company reported their third quarter losses at ten percent. The cause for the loss CEO,
Benjamin Gaon, says is Israel's high interest rates and the shekels rise against the U.S.
dollar.
Towards the end of December Israel, in an attempt to lower the 300 million a month
deficit by raising taxes. This, experts claim is a result of Israel's economic slowdown.
Jacob Frenkel, the governor of the bank of Israel says that the government should try to
focus more on reducing the government spending(50% of the GNP) than raising taxes.
Either way Netanyahu has a tough road ahead of him to try to keep down inflation and
taxes while still trying to reduce Israeli's debt.
Under Netanyahu Israel has seen rough times in all aspects. Netanyahu's slow change
towards the political center will better serve Israel, but is it going to be in time?
Netanyahu's continued West Bank Housing projects keep infuriating the Arab world. In
Israel's future I see more bloodshed but hope still exists for the peace that Prime
Minister Rabin had hoped for before his assassination. Politically I see peace on the
horizon with Arafat and the PLO but see future conflicts with Syria over the Golan
Heights. There will be renewed terrorist attacks with the Israeli pullout from Hebron
because political extremists will not be settled until they obtain all of what they want.
The middle east is one of the most volatile regions in the world so no one knows for
sure what awaits it.
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