1996 A Turbulent Year for Israel Essay Example For Students

1996: A Turbulent Year for Israel Essay 1996 has been a very turbulent year for Israel. This lies in theassassination of Yitzhak Rabin on November 4, 1995. Rabins great work in thepeace process with its Arab neighbors has been nearly reversed by Israelsnewly elected Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who actively opposed the peaceprocess in the election. Netanyahus term of service has not only affectedIsrael politically but also socially, intellectually, religiously, andeconomically. In dealing with Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians Netanyahu wasoriginally quoted saying that he would only meet with Arafat under specialcircumstances and that, the era of one-sided giving was over. WarrenChristopher, Secretary of State for the U.S., was able to arrange a peaceconference with Arafat on the Gaza border. One article called it a ,Psychological breakthrough (Netanyahu meets with Clinton). The issues at handwere Israel fulfilling its pledge to the Palestinians to redeploy its troopsstationed in the West Bank town of Hebron so that they will only guard the 440Jews who live there, from the tens of thousands of Palestinians. Also at issuewere the exit permits given to Palestinians allowing them to go from there jobsin Israel to there homes in Gaza and the and the West Bank. That leads toanother issue over whether or not a rail link between Gaza and the West Bankshould be formed. The major problem with that would be the cost. In the nextround of Israeli-PLO peace talks, both sides could not reach a compromise andafter four hours talks failed. To complicate matters further 3,000 houses wereapproved to be built in the West Bank by the Israeli government. Peace Nowspokesman, Alon Arnon, called the housing, A final burial of the hope ofpeace. (West Bank Settlement Approved) Netanyahu also ended the month byopening a tunnel to Muslim and Jewish Holy sites that resulted in bloody riotsthat killed 76 people. The month of October cooled down a bit with an ice breaking summit inWashington. Netanyahu returned with a change in attitude calling Arafat aperson whom he could resolve problems with. But aside from his change indemeanor no substantial agreements were made. In November Israel went on high alert in fear of an attack planned todisrupt the peace process, possibly on the one year anniversary of the Jihadsleader Fathi Shakaki. Again the peace effort was thrown back when the Israeligovernment announced plans to double the number of Jewish settlers in the WestBank. At one point Netanyahu asked the U.S. and Germany to help use theirinfluence in Iran and Syria to hold the terrorists at bay. Arafat also grewtired 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 thenmakes a statement that he envisions, A Palestinian entity with broad power,but fell short of declaring full independence. One article called this a signthat Netanyahu was, moving towards the Israeli political center.(NetanyahuMulls Palestine Land) Towards the end of November peace talks tookplace aboutthe redeployment of troops in Hebron. The main issue that stalled the talks wasIsraels insistence on written agreements that Israeli troops could chasePalestinian suspects into the city. In December, peace talks continued and as of now a decision was on theverge of being reached once final details were worked out. On January 1, 1997 aJewish military officer, believed to be mentally disturbed ,walked into aPalestinian market and opened fire. Waving after being arrested he said,Hebron, always and forever.Israel also had some serious problems with its Arab neighboringcountries. In September Israeli forces launched air and ground attacks tocounter Lebanese guerrillas who had ambushed an Israeli patrol. The guerrillasare part of Hezbollah, or party of god. Shortly after the attack Lebanon moved300 commandos to the southern border to, as a Lebanese statement says, copewith any Israeli venture in the region. Both Israel and Lebanon are underinvestigation to find if they had broken any cease-fire agreements. Jackie Robinson was the first baseball player to b EssayEconomically Israel has suffered under Netanyahus hard-line attitude. Some cold facts include: Exports rose only 4 percent(a third of the recent average increase) Tourism is down 10 percent Unemployment rose with Israels 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 citerising Arab-Israeli conflict scaring away foreign investment. Koor Industries,Israels largest industrial company reported their third quarter losses at tenpercent. The cause for the loss CEO, Benjamin Gaon, says is Israels highinterest rates and the shekels rise against the U.S. dollar. Towards the end of December Israel, in an attempt to lower the 300million a month deficit by raising taxes. This, experts claim is a result ofIsraels economic slowdown. Jacob Frenkel, the governor of the bank of Israelsays that the government should try to focus more on reducing the governmentspending(50% of the GNP) than raising taxes. Either way Netanyahu has a toughroad ahead of him to try to keep down inflation and taxes while still trying toreduce Israelis debt. Under Netanyahu Israel has seen rough times in all aspects. Netanyahusslow change towards the political center will better serve Israel, but is itgoing to be in time? Netanyahus continued West Bank Housing projects keepinfuriating the Arab world. In Israels future I see more bloodshed but hopestill exists for the peace that Prime Minister Rabin had hoped for before hisassassination. Politically I see peace on the horizon with Arafat and the PLObut see future conflicts with Syria over the Golan Heights. There will berenewed terrorist attacks with the Israeli pullout from Hebron because politicalextremists will not be settled until they obtain all of what they want. Themiddle east is one of the most volatile regions in the world so no one knows forsure what awaits it. Category: Social Issues