 |
VOLUME 9-10: 1984-1988
|
|
| |
| |
1988
The year was overshadowed by the uprising in the areas, which gave urgency to the peace process. This led to a greater American effort in attempting to find a formula that would enable the parties to the conflict to start negotiations. A new American initiative was taking shape in early 1988. It was announced by Secretary Shultz in February (document 333). It was followed by a Shultz visit to the Middle East and by a detailed peace initiative (document 342). The rest of the year was devoted to negotiations on the modalities for the negotiations. The prime minister continued to reject out of hand the notion of an international conference, and little progress was made. Israel and the U. S. did sign, however, a Memorandum of Understanding on economic, strategic and industrial matters (document 356), which raised their cooperation to new levels.
Relations with the Soviet Union improved considerably with the stationing in Moscow and Tel Aviv of consular missions of the respective countries. High level meetings between Israeli and Soviet officials took place, led by a Shamir-Shevardnadze meeting in New York in June.
At the end of the year, following intensive negotiations through third parties, the PLO finally came up with a formula that the United States deemed to be satisfactory. This led the U.S. to embark on a dialogue with the PLO in spite of Israeli protests. A month earlier, the PNC adopted a series of decisions in Algiers which proclaimed an independent Palestine and indirectly spoke of the need to recognize Israel in the borders of the 1947 partition resolution. Israel did not see any major departure from previous PLO positions. It felt that as long as terrorism continued, there was no point to any formal declarations of the type made in Algiers and later by Arafat in Stockholm and Geneva (documents 409, 415 and 420). The year ended with a sense of bitterness in Israel in view of the grave harm done by the American recognition of the PLO.
1988 was also an election year in Israel (and the United States), hence all political and diplomatic activity slowed down considerably from the spring in anticipation for the verdict of the voter.
|
|
| |