Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 31, 1993 TAG: 9308310208
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: JERUSALEM LENGTH: Medium
The agreement, expected to be signed at peace talks this week, represents the first major breakthrough in the Middle East conflict since Egypt signed a peace treaty with the Jewish state in 1979.
It was also the first significant sign of progress in the 22-month-old peace talks, set to resume today.
But there was fierce opposition from groups on both sides. Some right-wing Israelis condemned it as a threat to Israel's security, and some Palestinian groups denounced it as too limited.
The plan calls for Israeli troops to begin withdrawing from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Jericho in six months, and for Palestinians to begin running their own affairs there.
Israel has occupied the lands since the 1967 Middle East war, and fierce debate over the future of these territories has divided the Jewish state since.
But a violent 5 1/2-year uprising against Israeli rule persuaded many Israelis they were better off without the territories, especially the overcrowded Gaza strip that bears no biblical resonance for Jews.
Israeli peace proponents also argued that if Israel does not forge an agreement with the Palestine Liberation Organization, it will soon face much more dangerous radical Islamic groups bent on greater violence.
"We negotiated with the Palestinians with whom we have been in conflict for 100 years, and this is the most important thing in the decision," Health Minister Haim Ramon said after 16 ministers voted for the plan and two abstained.
Earlier, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin urged the Cabinet to approve the plan: "Every change has its risks, but the time has come to take a chance for peace," he said. "We stand on the verge of a great opportunity."
Housing Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said: "I believe the Cabinet did well to decide to take a chance."
The Cabinet did not, however, tackle the issue of recognition of the PLO, said Rabin spokesman Gad Ben-Ari. Israel views the group as a terrorist organization, although it directs Palestinian views at the talks.
Still, the vote drew fierce opposition from both Israelis and Palestinians.
As the 18-member Cabinet met for five hours Monday, about 4,000 Jewish settlers and right-wing activists hurled eggs, then stones, and called Rabin a traitor. Some scuffled with leftist demonstrators who held signs saying "Give peace a chance."
Police used water cannons to force the protesters back. Thirty-two demonstrators, two police officers and a photographer were hurt, and 21 protesters detained.
Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud opposition, accused Rabin's government of "going behind the back of the nation and setting up a bridgehead of a Palestinian state," which he argued would threaten Israel's security.
He called for opponents of the plan to go "in the streets, with all the legitimate means, in order to block these dangers."
"I am very enthusiastic that the process continue. I hope to be able to work with [Rabin's] Laborites in Israel toward peace," Bassam Abu Sharif, a top aide to PLO leader Yasser Arafat, told French television.
But in Gaza, Islamic fundamentalist groups issued leaflets and wrote wall slogans denouncing the self-rule plan as too limited.
by CNB