After two days of intense negotiations, Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed this week to a ceasefire that would end the bloodiest unrest the region has experienced in decades. Neither Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak nor Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat has evinced much enthusiasm for the deal. Their followers are even less supportive of the agreement. Indeed, at this moment, the ceasefire is not holding. Nonetheless, the deal is the best that can be achieved at this point: Both men must do their utmost to see that it is implemented.
Nearly three weeks of violence have left the peace process in tatters. The impact of the unrest was plainly visible in the talks. There were no smiles among the participants, nor handshakes. Reportedly, the two sides were yelling at each other during the meetings. Nothing was committed to paper. In a telling indication of the lack of trust, Mr. Barak and Mr. Arafat made their commitments to U.S. President Bill Clinton, not to each other. After announcing the deal, Mr. Clinton refused to take questions from the media to avoid inflaming the conflict.
According to Mr. Clinton, both sides agreed to issue public statements "unequivocally calling for an end of violence." They promised to take immediate steps to end the confrontation and prevent it from starting again. In addition, Israelis and Palestinians will act "to return the situation to that which existed prior to the current crisis." In concrete terms, that means the Palestinian Authority will end the mob violence and rearrest Islamic militants released from Palestinian prisons during the unrest. Israel will redeploy its forces and reopen Palestinian territories, including the Gaza airport.