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1996 has been a very turbulent year for Israel.

This lies in the assass


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.

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