Unable to end the unrest and stabilize the situation, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak is operating under two deadlines. One is the January 20 end of term for a U.S. administration that has been among the most pro-Israel in U.S. history. The other is the prime ministerial election in Israel, scheduled for February 6. An agreement would give Barak an advantage over rivals for the candidacy of his Labor Party, and also over the front-running Likud candidate, Ariel Sharon.

Clinton is also pressing hard for an agreement in the last weeks of his presidency, after previous attempts to sponsor such talks have ended in failure.

Israeli negotiator Shlomo Ben-Ami has reportedly offered the Palestinian Author ity sovereignty over the Haram al-Sharif compound in East Jerusalem, also known as the Temple Mount. In exchange, Ben-Ami demanded the Palestinian leadership drop its call for the right of Palestinian people to return to Israel.

Millions of Palestinians were driven off their land and into neighboring countries by the Israeli state. They live as refugees in camps in the occupied territories and throughout the Middle East. Their status dates from the Zionist terror campaigns of the 1940s, and the 1948 war that formed the state of Israel.

As a sweetener to this negotiating position, Israeli officials claim to offer increased openings for immigration into a future Palestinian state.

Ben-Ami described the first round of talks, held at the Bolling Air Force base on December 19, as "very fruitful." Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said, on the other hand, that "we're facing major difficulties and serious differences."

The Palestinian leadership faces hurdles in winning support for any such deal among Palestinians, who have to endure the siege conditions imposed by Tel Aviv over the last 12 weeks. Palestinian working people confront soaring unemployment, increasingly desperate living conditions, and the constant threat of Israeli military and police violence. More than 330 people have died since late September, the vast majority of them Palestinian.  
 
Assassination policy
The Israeli armed forces have changed tack in recent days, openly carrying out assassinations of Palestinians who they claim are associated with the resistance. The December 14 Financial Times observed, "Israel has stopped bombarding the police and security offices of Mr. Arafat's forces, admitting it was counterproductive," instead singling out for assassination "Fatah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad fighters over the past four weeks."

An Israeli army officer told the Times that their strategy is about "maximizing our effectiveness in targeting local Palestinian field commanders."

In a typical incident, military sharpshooters shot and killed 28-year-old Hamas loyalist Anwar Ahmed Himran on December 11. Palestinian witnesses contradicted the official claim that Hamran had opened fire first, reporting that he was hit while walking to a taxi stand. Another Fatah activist, Yousef Abu Swayeh, was shot 17 times by Israeli soldiers outside his West Bank home on December 12.

The Palestinian authorities have come under pressure from Hamas and the Tanzim militia associated with Fatah to provide protection to those who are known or suspected to be on the target list and therefore in line for assassination.  
 

Tel Aviv justifies assassinations
"The IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] and the Shin Bet [secret service] are visibly satisfied with the work done by the special units...against Palestinian field activists," reported Ha'aretz. Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh spoke in justification of the policy on December 12, claiming that the units strike "at those who are leading the shooting cells." An IDF statement the next day said it uses "effective methods against those who hurt Israelis."

In another indication of the brutal logic of Israeli policy, the head of the army's Southern Command has informed Zionist settlers in the northern Gaza Strip that he is considering erecting a $15 million electric fence to separate their communities from Palestinian areas. An additional company of troops will be assigned to patrol the fence if it is constructed.  
 
Barak's weakness behind new elections Barak's prospects for reelection improved somewhat on December 18 when Benjamin Netanyahu of the opposition Likud Party withdrew from competition with the party's official leader, Ariel Sharon, for the party's candidacy.

Netanyahu pulled out of the race after the Israeli Knesset, or parliament, refused to dissolve itself and force a new parliamentary election. "I will not run unless general elections are held," he stated, claiming that a stable government would be impossible within the current divided Knesset.

The Likud leader used the announcement of new talks to launch a characteristically demagogic attack on the Palestinians, claiming that "every position they receive is merely a forward position...for the next unleashing of violence."

Barak faces a challenge for the Labor candidacy from Shimon Peres, who poses as a "tireless" advocate of "peace" with the Palestinians.

On December 18 the United Nations Security Council voted to reject a call by Arafat and other Palestinian leaders for a UN-sponsored force to be sent to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Washington's UN ambassador, Richard Holbrooke, had pledged to veto the measure if it received the necessary majority of nine votes. The vote on the resolution was eight in favor, with seven abstentions.
 
 
Related articles:
YS in Iceland joins actions in support of Palestinian struggle
Palestinian jailed on 'secret evidence' is freed
 
 
 
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