ination of Yitzhak Rabin on November 4, 1995. Rabin's great work in the peace p rocess with it's Arab neighbors has been nearly reversed by Israel's newly elect ed Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who actively opposed the peace process in the election. Netanyahu's term of service has not only affected Israel politic ally but also socially, intellectually, religiously, and economically. In dealing with Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians Netanyahu was origina lly quoted saying that he would only meet with Arafat under special circumstance s and that, "the era of one-sided giving was over." Warren Christopher, Secretar y of State for the U.S., was able to arrange a peace conference with Arafat on t he Gaza border. One article called it a , "Psychological breakthrough" (Netanya hu meets with Clinton). The issues at hand were Israel fulfilling it's pledge t o the Palestinians to redeploy it's troops stationed in the West Bank town of He bron 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 Palesti nians allowing them to go from there jobs in Israel to there homes in Gaza and t he and the West Bank. That leads to another issue over whether or not a rail li nk 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 co uld not reach a compromise and after four hours talks failed. To complicate mat ters further 3,000 houses were approved to be built in the West Bank by the Isra eli government. "Peace Now spokesman", Alon Arnon, called the housing, "A final burial of the hope of peace." (West Bank Settlement Approved) Netanyahu also e nded 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 Wa shington. 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 s ubstantial agreements were made. In November Israel went on high alert in fear of an attack planned to di srupt the peace process, possibly on the one year anniversary of the Jihad's lea der Fathi Shakaki. Again the peace effort was thrown back when the Israeli gove rnment 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 statem ent that he envisions, "A Palestinian entity with broad power," but fell short o f declaring full independence. One article called this a sign that Netanyahu wa s, "moving towards the Israeli political center."(Netanyahu Mulls Palestine Land ) Towards the end of November peace talks tookplace about the redeployment of t roops 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 v erge 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 Palest inian market and opened fire. Waving after being arrested he said, "Hebron, alw ays and forever." Israel also had some serious problems with it's Arab neighboring countri es. In September Israeli forces launched air and ground attacks to counter Leba nese guerrillas who had ambushed an Israeli patrol. The guerrillas are part of Hezbollah, or party of god. Shortly after the attack Lebanon moved 300 commando s to the southern border to, as a Lebanese statement says, "cope with any Israel i venture in the region." Both Israel and Lebanon are under investigation to fi nd if they had broken any cease-fire agreements. Jordan, Israel's closest Arab ally issued a blunt statement to Israel de claring, "Anything can happen if peace is not achieved."(Rift widening quickly b etween Israel and Jordan) Hussein attended a luncheon with Netanyahu, Clinton, a nd Arafat saying, "What you need sir, is not the arrogance of power but the visi on 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 trem endous 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 Heig hts. 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 offici al, "Destroy trust between Israel and it's Arab neighbors." Socially Israel has it's share of problems. In November an Israeli lawm aker who advocated a crackdown on violence against women was "under the spotligh t" for allegedly beating his own wife. Haim Dayan was once talking about wife a busers 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 spokeswom en, Carmel is, "The level of violence and anger is very high ...and it's influen ces the family situation. Another Israeli agreed, "Israelis still live by the s word" Violence is also frequently seen in the Israeli abuse towards Palestinia ns. In November two Israeli border guards were arrested after being video taped beating and kicking six Palestinian laborers. Israeli and Palestinian human ri ghts 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 illega lly. In response Yasser Arafat said he would distribute video cameras to Palest inians living near the checkpoints to monitor further violence. Another trend with Israel socially is the ever growing flow of foreigner s into Israel from Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. The foreigners comp lain 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 fo reign workers in Israel and two thirds of them have overstayed visas and are the re illegally. One immigrant commented on the abuse saying, "Society tolerates i t because these people are not Jews." On the lighter side there has been a dramatic increase in the UFO sighti ngs 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 ar e 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 ci ty 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-aroun d from Israel, so it turned to a new technology developed in Israel, wireless mi crowave communications. The technology's founder says he estimates to have 3,00 0 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 t o wish him a happy New Year. On Christmas eve thousands of pilgrims filled Beth lehem'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 col d 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 lar gest 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 milli on 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 tha t 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 o f him to try to keep down inflation and taxes while still trying to reduce Israe li'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 go ing to be in time? Netanyahu's continued West Bank Housing projects keep infuri ating the Arab world. In Israel's future I see more bloodshed but hope still ex ists for the peace that Prime Minister Rabin had hoped for before his assassinat ion. Politically I see peace on the horizon with Arafat and the PLO but see fut ure conflicts with Syria over the Golan Heights. There will be renewed terroris t 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.