Taken alone, last week’s bombing would not have the power to undo the hard-won Palestinian-Israeli peace accord reached at Wye. But it was the fifth week in a row that Palestinian terrorists targeted Israelis–and the third attack since talks began at Wye. On Oct. 19, a Palestinian grenade attack injured 64 Israelis at the Beersheba bus station. And in the most harrowing assault, on Oct. 29, an Israeli Army jeep intercepted a car-bomber as he sped toward a bus full of children; the bomber and one soldier died.
At this rate, the Wye accord could die the death of a thousand cuts. Calls to the Israeli police claimed the bombing for Hamas, but the Israeli government blames Islamic Jihad. Both groups oppose Yasir Arafat’s negotiations with Israel. And their violent tactics appear to be working: minutes after Friday’s bombing, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended cabinet debate on the land-for-security deal. ““The problem with the Wye agreement is that it gives Hamas more incentive to attack than ever before, because it explicitly directs the Palestinian Authority to stop Hamas, which it sees as an attack on its very existence,’’ says Barry Rubin, a political scientist at Tel Aviv’s Bar-Ilan University. ““But at the same time Netanyahu has had a very negative reaction from within his own party to the agreement.''
To be sure, Netanyahu faced a fight on Wye even without the attacks. Several of his cabinet ministers objected to the land handovers on the ground that they would leave as many as 18 West Bank settlements stranded in Palestinian territory. These ministers even called for construction to resume on the disputed Jewish settlement of Har Homa, on the edge of Jerusalem. Worried about support from the right wing, Netanyahu last week kept postponing a cabinet vote on the accord in the hope that he might wring another promise out of the Palestinians. Late Thursday, just as the cabinet was preparing to debate, the prime minister requested a new condition: that the full Palestine National Council vote on removing calls for Israel’s destruction from its charter–a sticky issue the Wye agreement got around by requiring the PNC to meet and ““reaffirm’’ Arafat’s decision to change the charter. After last week’s bombing, Israel insisted that Arafat would have to wage an ““all-out war on terror’’ for the accord to proceed.
The Palestinian president immediately condemned the attack. In an unusual direct appeal to the Israeli people, Arafat appeared on national television Friday and vowed to ““exert 100 percent effort’’ to track down those involved. So far he has at least made a show of staunching Palestinian terrorism: he arrested several hundred Hamas activists and within hours of the Gaza school-bus attack placed the group’s founder, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, under house arrest. He also agreed to arrest 30 Palestinians whom Israel believes have been involved in terrorist attacks. Such gestures are deeply unpopular among Palestinians. Even Hattem Abdel Kader, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council from Arafat’s own Fatah Party, says: ““Our unity is more important than the Wye agreement.''
The most encouraging thing that can be said about the accord at this point is that it is the only option. Washington has played down the latest Palestinian attacks, saying bumps in the road are to be expected. President Clinton urged both sides to stick to the plan. ““It is the best way to safety for the Israelis, and the best way to achieve the aspirations of the Palestinians, and in the end the only answer to today’s act of criminal terror,’’ he said after the bombing.
Meanwhile, in Mahane Yehuda market, life returned to normal. Nachum Mordechai resumed selling spices in his stall just a few yards from where the car bomb exploded. On the wall, he displayed a framed photo of Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai shaking hands with him and his sons. It was taken during happier times, and everyone is smiling. Now the 65-year-old stall-owner can manage only a grimace. ““What does this peace bring us?’’ he says. ““Bombs and killings.’’ And an endless number of chances to make a fresh start.
