Word: barak
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...what is he going to do when the suicide bombers come calling? President Clinton has plenty of grounds for optimism over the peacemaking intentions of Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, with whom he held further White House talks Monday following last week?s intense bonding. But with a new season of peace dawning between Israel and the Palestinians, Israelis are bracing for the inevitable backlash of bombing by the Islamic fundamentalist Hamas movement. "It?s logical to expect new terror attacks, because the peace process involves Palestinians' accepting Israel?s existence, to which Hamas is resolutely opposed," says TIME Jerusalem...
Where have you been all my life, Ehud? Bill Clinton gave Israel?s new prime minister, Ehud Barak, almost six hours of one-on-one face time Thursday, plus an intimate double-date dinner and sleepover at Camp David ?- and he didn?t even have to make a campaign contribution. Why the elaborate courtship? The President badly needs a durable Middle East settlement to crown his legacy, and Barak is the first Israeli leader since Yitzhak Rabin who seems able to deliver. Clinton was never comfortable dragging Benjamin Netanyahu kicking and screaming into land-for-peace agreements...
Despite the lovefest, says TIME Jerusalem bureau chief Lisa Beyer, "the relationship won?t be entirely free of friction. Under Netanyahu the U.S. became intimately involved in negotiating agreements and refereeing their implementation. Barak wants the U.S. to step back from that role and allow Israel to settle disputes directly with the Palestinians." That?s not as simple as it may sound, because the Palestinians have very little leverage and could therefore become obstinate if they feel steamrollered by Israel. "Reducing the American role gives Israel a natural advantage as the stronger party, and that makes the Palestinians edgy about...
...indivisible capital of Israel." Hillary?s first flip-flop? "More like an obligatory pander," says TIME senior writer Eric Pooley. "The two things aren?t mutually exclusive ?- this just means the Palestinian capital wouldn?t be Jerusalem." Pooley figures she?s done minimal damage ? with the peace-minded Barak in power in Israel, New York?s Jewish and Arab communities are both in an accommodating mood. In no way, however, does that feeling extend to its tabloids...
...There?s a real danger of new tensions arising because of the unrealistic expectation that Barak?s election can break all the deadlocks in the peace process," says TIME West Bank correspondent Jamil Hamad. "The disputes between Israel and the Palestinians over issues ranging from the status of Jerusalem and the future of Israeli settlements in the West Bank to the question of refugees are exceedingly complicated, and there are no quick solutions." Barak plans to meet with President Clinton and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat shortly to jump-start the peace process. And while the atmospherics of those meetings...