On 18 December 1998, the Clinton administration and the EU expressed their satisfaction with the implementation of the first phase of the memorandum by both parties. [2] However, Israel had only implemented Phase 1 of the subsequent redeployment (F.R.D.), meaning that it had withdrawn 2% from Area C instead of the required 13%. [3] [4] Both parties accused each other of failing to fulfill their share of responsibility under the Wye River Memorandum, and the continued implementation of the agreement remained incomplete. The Wye River Memorandum was an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Palestinian Authority at a summit in Wye River, Maryland, United States, from 15 to 23 October 1998. The memorandum aimed to resume the implementation of the 1995 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip (Oslo II Agreement). It was signed at the White House by Benjamin Netanyahu and Yasser Arafat, through US-led negotiations. President Bill Clinton on October 23, 1998. [1] On November 17, 1998, Israel`s 120-member parliament, the Knesset, approved the memorandum by 75 votes to 19. The memorandum stipulated that it would enter into force on 2 November 1998, ten days after its signature. Agenda: President Clinton convened the Wye River Summit to keep the Oslo process alive.
On the Israeli side, Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated, and soon after, the anti-Oslo Benjamin Netanyahu was elected to replace him as prime minister. On the Palestinian side, Hamas challenged the deal by launching a wave of suicide bombings in Israel in 1996. Amid growing mistrust, the Oslo process seemed to be at a standstill. The Wye talks were aimed at reaching agreements on issues ranging from PA counterterrorism measures to land transfers via Israel to ensure the process remains on track. (a) The Palestinian side would provide the Israeli side with a list of its police officers in accordance with previous agreements. (b) If the Palestinian side requests technical assistance, the United States expresses its readiness to help meet those needs in cooperation with other donors. (c) The Monitoring and Steering Committee shall, as part of its tasks, monitor the implementation of this provision and inform the United States thereof. On the last day of negotiations, the agreement almost failed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had asked President Bill Clinton to release Jonathan Pollard, a US naval intelligence officer who has been serving a life sentence since 1985 for leaking secret information to Israel. A bitter disagreement ensued, with Netanyahu claiming Clinton had promised to release Pollard, and Clinton said he had only promised to “review” the matter. It was reported that then-CIA Director George Tenet threatened to resign if Pollard was released.
Nevertheless, it would be premature to cancel what was achieved in Wye. It would also be a waste. The agreement provides a useful roadmap for the current phase of diplomacy – Israel`s territorial return, increased security for Israel, the elimination of those clauses from the Palestinian Charter calling for Israel`s destruction – and also initiates “final status” negotiations to resolve fundamental issues for peace, including the Palestinian state, land, water, refugees, settlements and Jerusalem. (a) The Palestinian side would ensure that an effective legal framework is in place to criminalize any importation, manufacture or sale, acquisition or possession without license of firearms, ammunition or weapons in the territories under Palestinian jurisdiction, in accordance with previous arrangements. (b) In addition, the Palestinian side would vigorously and continuously establish and implement a systematic programme of collection and proper treatment of all such illegal items in accordance with previous agreements. The United States has agreed to assist in the implementation of the program. (c) A United States-Palestinian-Israeli committee would be established to support and strengthen cooperation to prevent the smuggling or other unauthorized importation of weapons or explosive materials into areas of Palestinian jurisdiction. To implement the Oslo II Agreement and facilitate Israel`s withdrawal from parts of the West Bank, Israel and the Palestinian Authority have signed a number of agreements and protocols. The documents contained mutual responsibilities, including those related to continued redeployments and security. The Wye deal has been very popular in Israel, with 74 percent of Israelis supporting the deal, according to a poll in early November. [8] However, Prime Minister Netanyahu sensed opposition within his Likud party and delayed a vote on cabinet approval while seeking public assurances from the Clinton administration on Wye`s implementation. Instead of joining a national unity government with opposition leader Ehud Barak, Netanyahu sought to reassure Likud hardliners by halting Wye`s implementation in early December due to clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers.
[9] Barak`s Labor Party`s disapproval of Netanyahu`s policies and the Likud right led to a vote of no confidence in his government, leading to general elections in May 1999; Barak was victorious and promised to continue the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The two sides would immediately resume final status negotiations on an expedited basis and make determined efforts to achieve the common goal of an agreement by 4 May 1999. Result: In the Wye River Memorandum, Israel agreed to a gradual withdrawal of an additional 13 percent from the occupied territory in exchange for a commitment by the Palestinian Authority to suppress terror and eliminate weapons stockpiles and suppress anti-Israel incitement. At the same time, the US has provided statements of assurance offering guarantees to meet Israel`s demands for provisions of the PLO charter calling for Israel`s destruction, repression of militants, and the end of the “revolving door” for prisoners arrested by the PA. Despite the agreement, neither the PA`s arms reduction commitments nor the final land transfers from Israel to the PA have been undertaken. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and US President Bill Clinton signed a memorandum in which he recommitted to the Oslo II Accords of September 1995 after nine days of negotiations at Wye River Plantation in eastern Maryland. . The talks that led to the Wye Memorandum, the terms of which included placing up to 40 percent of the West Bank under Palestinian control.
The deal was rejected by right-wing groups in Israel, and several factions of Netanyahu`s ruling coalition resigned. In 1998, the Knesset dissolved the government and. In addition, the Wye Agreement has a political significance that goes beyond its specific terms. A center-right Israeli prime minister has signed an agreement that implements commitments made by the previous center-left government. In this way, he created a significant majority in Israel ready to offer territorial concessions to the Palestinians in exchange for peace and security. The goal for all – Israelis, Palestinians, other Arab and American leaders – should be to strengthen this Israeli majority that advocates responsible peacemaking that encourages Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue what was negotiated in Wye. The deal was eventually signed by Netanyahu and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat in the White House, with President Clinton playing a key role as an official witness. However, since this is the Middle East, progress will not happen simply. Good things will only happen if people on all sides do their part. Here is a work plan for the main actors: all this must be achieved within the framework of 4 May 1999, the date set five years ago for the conclusion of the final status talks.
No one expects the negotiations to be concluded by then, but it is not necessary. What is needed, however, is for the Wye Accords to be implemented and for final status talks to begin and be promising enough for Arafat to stop the proclamation of a Palestinian state. Such a unilateral act would likely lead to unilateral Israeli actions, including the annexation of land, which would trigger a violent confrontation between the two sides. The summit was brokered by the United States at the Aspen Institute`s Wye River Conference Centers near Wye Mills, Maryland,[5] U.S. President Bill Clinton opened the summit on October 15 at the Wye River Conference Center and returned to the site at least six times to pressure Netanyahu and Arafat. close the transaction. In the latest attempt to get Netanyahu and Arafat to overcome the remaining obstacles, Clinton invited King Hussein, who had played a role in reducing tensions between the two men in the past, to join the talks. Among other forms of mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, requests have been made for the arrest and transfer of suspects and accused.
The Parties requested the United States to report regularly on the measures taken to respond to the above-mentioned requests. (a) The Palestinian side would issue a decree prohibiting any form of incitement to violence or terror and establishing mechanisms for systematic action against any expression or threat of violence or terror. .