Israel links further withdrawal to Palestinian compliance

Israel Government Press Office, January 14, 1998

Background

On January 15, 1997, Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA)
signed the Hebron Protocol. Attached to the accord was a “Note for
the Record” prepared by Ambassador Dennis Ross at the request of
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chairman Yasser Arafat. The
Note for the Record lists various Israeli and Palestinian
obligations which the two sides undertook to fulfill.

Israeli Compliance

In the year since the signing of the Hebron Protocol, Israel has
fulfilled all of its commitments. Israeli forces redeployed in
Hebron. Israel approved the first stage of the further redeployment
from the West Bank, released Palestinian women prisoners, resumed
negotiations with the PA on outstanding Interim Agreement issues
and offered to resume final status talks.

Palestinian Non-Compliance

In the year since the signing of the Hebron Protocol, the
Palestinian Authority (PA) has failed to fulfill the four general
obligations contained in the Note for the Record: amending the
Covenant, combating terror, reducing the size of its police force
and restricting its governmental activity to areas under its
control.

On January 14, 1998, the Israeli Cabinet approved a document
detailing nearly 50 measures which the PA must take to comply with
its obligations. The document makes no new demands. It relates
strictly to commitments contained in the Note for the Record.
Following is an executive summary of the document. For a complete
copy, please contact the Israel Government Press Office (GPO) at
972-2-623-3385 or consult the GPO internet site at:
Israel Government Press Office

Executive Summary of Document on Palestinian Commitments
Approved by the Israeli Cabinet on January 14, 1998

1. Complete the Process of Revising the Palestinian National
Covenant – The Palestinians have failed to complete the process of
amending the Covenant which calls for Israel’s destruction. In
accordance with the agreement, 26 of the 33 articles in the
Covenant must be amended or annulled. To comply with their
obligation, the Palestinian National Council’s (PNC) legal
committee must issue a statement specifying which articles have
been annulled in accordance with the April 1996 PNC decision. Then,
the PNC itself must reconvene and pass a new resolution affirming
the statement by its legal committee concerning which specific
articles in the Covenant have been changed.

2. Failure to Fight Terror and Prevent Violence – One of the PA’s
gravest violations of the Note for the Record has been its failure
to combat terror, an obligation which the Note for the Record
breaks down into six specific measures. The document approved by
the Israeli Cabinet relates to three of these (the remaining three
will be discussed by the Cabinet at a later date):

2b. Preventing Incitement and hostile propaganda – The document
includes a list of more than 80 statements made by Palestinian
officials and media in the year since the signing of the Hebron
Accord which constitute incitement to violence and hostile
propaganda against Israel. Senior PA officials have repeatedly
engaged in incitement to violence against Israel. They have praised
Hamas terrorists, threatened Israel with war, and accused Israel of
injecting Palestinians with the AIDS virus, poisoning Palestinian
food products and threatening to destroy the Al-Aksa mosque. To
comply with their obligation, PA officials must cease engaging in
and encouraging incitement against Israel. PA employees, preachers
in mosques and others who incite to violence against Israel must be
dismissed from their posts, prosecuted and punished. The PA must
also end incitement to violence against Israel in the official
Palestinian media (including radio and television). The PA should
undertake a comprehensive public education campaign regarding the
rejection of violence and terror and normalization with Israel.

2e. Transfer of Terror Suspects to Israel – In accordance with
their obligation under the accords, the PA must comply with the
formal requests submitted by Israel for the transfer of 34 terror
suspects. Thus far, the PA has failed to hand over any of those
suspects. Among those whose transfer is being sought by Israel are:
PA Police Chief Ghazi Jabali, wanted for instructing Palestinian
policemen to ambush and fire at Israelis; Ibrahim Alkam, Abdel
Nasser Alkaisi and Ibrahim Hani, wanted for the murder of Etta
Tzur and her 12-year old son Ephraim on December 11, 1996; Bassam
Issa – mastermind of the terror attack in Jerusalem on October 9,
1994 in which two were killed; and Hisham Salim Dib, who was behind
the March 4, 1996 Dizengoff suicide bombing which killed 13 people.

2f. Confiscation of illegal firearms – To comply with their
commitments, the PA must act to systematically confiscate all
illegal weapons and punish those illegally bearing arms. The PA
must also act to prevent the smuggling of weapons into
Palestinian-controlled areas by all elements, including by senior
Palestinian officials and VIPs. PA officials caught smuggling
weapons must be removed from their posts. Any weapons and
explosives in PA possession or in Palestinian-controlled areas
which violate the terms of the accord must be transferred to
Israel.

3. Size of Palestinian Police – The PA must reduce the size of its
police force. The PA has deployed nearly 36,000 policemen in areas
under its jurisdiction, exceeding the limit prescribed by the Oslo
Accords by over 12,000, or 50%. The PA must also comply with its
obligation to submit to Israel a complete list of all police
recruits for review and approval. The PA has submitted only 18,500
names. Hence, nearly half of the Palestinian policemen currently
serving in the field have not received the required Israeli
approval.

4. Restricting Palestinian governmental activity to areas under PA
control – In violation of the accords, the PA is active in
Jerusalem in spheres ranging from education to health to religious
affairs. The PA must halt all its activity in Jerusalem, including
that of its officials, such as PA Minister for Religious Affairs
Hassan Tahboub and PA Mufti Ikrama Sabri. The PA must close Feisal
Husseini’s Ministry for Jerusalem Affairs at the Orient House and
put an end to the Palestinian security services’ activity in
Jerusalem. The PA has also attempted to exercise various powers in
Area C in Judea and Samaria to which they are not entitled under
the accords, including the issuance of building permits, activity
at archaeological sites and the illegal use of broadcast
frequencies. The PA must halt such activities in Area C, and they
must refrain from engaging in foreign relations in violation of the
accord.