Word: palestinians
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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After more than 18 months of vacation from the peace process, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat have come together in Wye, Md., in an effort to broker a further Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, but the negotiations have so far yielded only more tension. This atmosphere was compounded by a grenade attack early Monday morning at a bus station in Beersheba that wounded 67 people...
...whether right or wrong, to cede certain parts of the Judean mountains because of their strategic importance in protecting against foreign attack is one of many obstacles, along with Netanyahu's acrobatic effort to appease the Israeli far right while brokering a pull-out from Israeli-occupied territory. Meanwhile, Palestinian negotiating potential has been damaged by the acts of extremists who prefer tactics of terror to dealing peaceably with the Israelis...
Netanyahu is right to insist on security, as he has repeatedly over the last few days. But he must also make concessions to the Palestinian people and agree to the 13 percent withdrawal from the West Bank which is being asked for. On the other side, Arafat must make more honest and concerted efforts to root out the terrorist factions with-in his ranks and comply with Israeli demands to turn over apprehended terrorists...
...palpable distrust between Israeli and Palestinian leaders despite six days of intense talks in a Maryland compound bodes ill for real progress, whatever the spin on the outcome of the talks. Israel wants Arafat to clamp down hard on his Hamas opponents; Arafat is reluctant to take unpopular steps on behalf of an Israeli government he doesn't trust. "Arafat has lost hope that he can make significant progress with Netanyahu," says TIME Jerusalem bureau chief Lisa Beyer. "He's unlikely to make unpopular decisions for a deal he doesn't believe Netanyahu will keep anyway." Arafat's reported illness...
...Israel responded by restating its demand for greater security guarantees; the Palestinian Authority condemned the attack as the work of Palestinian hard-liners out to wreck the peace process. Both sides promised to keep talking. But not even 30 hours of President Clinton's time at the weekend could break the 18-month deadlock over the interim step of an Israeli withdrawal from a further 13 percent of the West Bank. A final-status agreement may have to wait for time and elections to produce an entirely new cast of characters...