		Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 29 Oct. - 4 Nov. 1998 Issue No.401
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Worst-case scenario

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, in any of his many guises, apparently does not like to disappoint his Arab critics, who have long insisted that he is congenitally incapable of respecting any agreement he signs. The minute his plane landed in Israel after the emotional exchange of hugs, kisses and handshakes in Washington, where the latest Palestinian-Israeli deal was signed, he took off his peace-maker's cloak and donned the garb to which we are more accustomed: that of an extremist right-wing Zionist who cannot accept the idea that the Palestinian people have any rights. He immediately announced his plan to invite construction companies to start building settlements on Palestinian territory in Jebel Abu Ghneim, near Jerusalem -- the same spot where his decision to build a new Jewish settlement 19 months ago led to the collapse of peace talks with Palestinians.

The agreement signed in Washington, and the letters of assurance given by US President Clinton to both Israelis and Palestinians, are clear in stating that the two sides must refrain from taking any unilateral actions which might endanger the peace process. In the case of Israel, the term "unilateral action" specifically refers to the illegal practice of building Jewish settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. But that is not the way Netanyahu understood it. As far as he is concerned, Israelis have a God-given right to settle anywhere they want in Palestine, while the people who have lived there for centuries are considered strangers who have no right to live or to build on their own land.

President Hosni Mubarak, in a recent meeting with naval officers, said that Netanyahu had telephoned him after signing the agreement with the Palestinians, and had told him that it was "a good agreement". Mubarak replied that it will be a good agreement only if it is implemented; if it is not, then the whole region can expect only the worst. The Israeli premier, by openly insisting that Israel will continue its policy of expanding settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, is definitely pushing for that option.