Letter send by the Likud of Holland to The Economist, 29 december 1996.

Sir,

In the article ‘Palestine by proclamation’ of December 21st 1996, you argue that Palestinian frustration grows as a result of stagnating peace talks. The Palestinians would now be satisfied with the implementation of existing agreements.

What is left out is the Israeli frustration. Netanyahu has also said that he wants implementation of the agreements, to bring an end to the attacks by terrorists. Take for instance the latest attack, in which Ita Tsur and her 12 year old son Ephraim were killed. The climate in which this could happen was:

• the failure of Arafat do disband armed militias like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine or PFLP (contrary to Oslo article 14), whose members committed the attack on December 12th, the same day the organisation celebrated its 29th anniversary publicly in Bethlehem,
• the failure to disarm terrorist organisations like the PFLP, Hamas and others (contrary to Oslo annex 1),
• the failure to extradite 27 suspected terrorists to Israel (contrary to Oslo annex 4). Instead they were convicted by a Palestinian court and in most cases released after a few months,
• 10 of them are even enlisted in the Palestine police forces, made possible by the fact that lists of potential recruits are not submitted to Israel for approval (contrary to Oslo annex 1),
• the ongoing incitement to violence against Israel by Arafat (contrary to Oslo article 22),
• the failure to change the PLO Covenant (contrary to Oslo article 32), which therefore still calls for the destruction of the state of Israel and the expulsion of the jews.

These violations of the agreements are the cause of the fact that, since the agreements have been signed, on the average almost three times as many Israelis have been killed as in the years before. Netanyahu and the Israeli people therefore insist on the implementation of the agreements even more.