Volume eighteen of this series covers the term of office of the Barak government (July 1999-February 2001). This period witnessed intensive diplomatic activity aimed at reaching an overall settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the return of violence in the region as these efforts failed.
Ehud Barak was elected Prime Minister of Israel on 17 May 1999 by 56.1% of the vote. In his victory speech, the Prime Minister-elect promised to speed up negotiations with the Palestinians and to put any major agreement reached to a national referendum. Immediately after the elections, he set out to create a broad-based coalition, but his stated desire to curtail settlement activities ruled out Likud participation. The new coalition government, consisting of seven parties, was presented to the Knesset on 6 July 1999, and won a comfortable majority. Barak decided to hold on to the Defense portfolio while David Levy was appointed Foreign Minister.
During the first week of his term, Barak met separately with Egyptian President Mubarak, Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Yasser Arafat and Jordan's King Abdullah. They discussed the next phases of the peace process, mainly the implementation of the Wye River Memorandum signed by his predecessor, Prime Minister Netanyahu, in October 1998. Barak also visited Washington for talks with President Clinton and senior members of his administration. He told the President that he had set a target deadline of 15 months to achieve a comprehensive framework for peace. He was interested in simultaneous talks with the PA, Syria and Lebanon. The visit also resulted in closer strategic cooperation and coordination between Israel and the US.
Initial Israel-PA negotiations on prisoner release and further redeployment (FRD) foundered. The impasse brought US Secretary of State Albright to the region, and culminated in the signing, by Barak and Arafat, of the Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum on 4 September. This memorandum reiterated the Wye accords, and set new target dates for its implementation and for the acceleration of Final Status negotiations. On 13 September, Israel and the PA held a ceremony at the Erez crossing point for the reopening of the final status talks.
Following secret talks, Barak and Arafat met President Clinton in early December in Oslo. There, Barak raised the possibility of another Camp David summit with the aim of reaching a final status agreement no later than September 2000. President Clinton appointed Ambassador Dennis Ross to follow the final status talks closely, which meant frequent visits to the region. Talks continued without progress for a further three months. On 21 March, Israel implemented the third stage of the second redeployment, and over the next three weeks, the two sides began negotiating a final status agreement at Bolling Air Force Base near Washington D.C.
A third round of Israel-PA talks opened in Eilat on 30 April. While Barak was forced by domestic pressures to delay implementing his idea of transferring to the PA three villages near Jerusalem, in early May Israel presented a plan whereby it would hand over to the PA 66% of the West Bank, annex some 20% around Jerusalem and hold on to 14% in the Jordan Valley for a period of few years. Meanwhile, Israel's Internal Security Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami and Tourism Minister Amnon Lipkin-Shahak were quietly meeting with PA negotiators Ahmad Qurai and Mahmud Abbas in Stockholm. In these talks Israel offered additional territorial concessions, but warned that if the PA unilaterally proclaimed Palestinian independence, that state would consist only of 40% of the West Bank and negotiations would be over.
During his campaign and following his election, Prime Minister Barak had also promised a unilateral IDF withdrawal from Lebanon no later than July 2000. In early March, he won unanimous approval from his cabinet for this move, and a month later Israel notified the United Nations of its intentions to leave Lebanon and asked it to ensure that this would not lead to deterioration along the border. On 25 May 2000, six weeks before the target date, the IDF deployed south of the 1923 international border between Lebanon and Israel. Over 6,000 SLA (Southern Lebanese Army) soldiers, former allies of Israel, were allowed to cross into Israel. On 24 July the UN Secretary-General confirmed that Israel had fulfilled UN Resolution 425 (1978) regarding Lebanon. For a few months, the border remained relatively quiet, but in October, three Israeli soldiers were kidnapped by Hizbullah, who refused to give any information on their status or whereabouts. (A year later, the IDF announced that there was a high probability that the three were no longer alive.)
Barak's pursuit of the Israeli-Syrian track began in September, when the Prime Minister sent a request via Secretary Albright to President Assad for talks to resume. Syria demanded a prior commitment by Israel for a total withdrawal from the Golan to the June 4, 1967 borders, but the United States eventually convinced Syria to enter into talks from the point at which they left off (under Netanyahu) with no preconditions. On 15-16 December 1999, Barak met with Syrian Foreign Minister Al-Shara in Washington. Al-Shara refused to shake Barak's hand. The talks focused on procedures for future negotiaions and were resumed on 3 January 2000 in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Four technical committees were set up (border/withdrawal, security, normalization and water), and the first round ended a week later. The talks were slated to resume on 19 January, but the Israeli and Arab press printed a leaked American document envisioning a settlement. Syria immediately informed the US that it was suspending its partcipation in further talks, insisting again that Israel make a prior commitment to withdraw completely from the Golan. Israel refused. Hizbullah attacks and IDF retaliatory strikes made a resumption of Israel-Syria talks even more unlikely. Contacts continued through third parties (US, France, Russia and Egypt), but on March 1 the Knesset passed a law requiring a referendum on any withdrawal from the Golan, and a 61 Knesset member majority for such a move. President Hafez al-Assad died in June and was succeeded by his son Bashar. Talks did not resume.
Back on the Israeli-Palestinian track, it was agreed that another round of talks would be held in Washington starting 14 June. Barak urged President Clinton to convene a summit at Camp David to resolve all the issues. The fact that Arafat continued to consider a unilateral proclamation of independence for mid-September, while Israel warned it would take countermeasures by annexing parts of the West Bank and Gaza, persuaded the President to invite Barak and Arafat to come to Camp David for a summit conference starting on 11 July.
On the eve of the summit, two parties, Shas and Israel Ba'aliyah abandoned Barak's coalition, leaving him with no Knesset majority. In addition, Foreign Minister Levy announced he would not attend the summit. Prior to leaving for Camp David, Barak lost of a vote of confidence in the Knesset.
Between 19-23 July, while Clinton was in Okinawa for a G-8 summit, the talks were led by Secretary Albright. While Barak offered radical concessions regarding refugee resettlement, territory (some 95% of the area, and an exchange of territory for resettling some refugees), the Temple Mount and other issues, the talks foundered on three main issues: the future of Jerusalem, the PA insistence on a "right of return" and a PA refusal to commit to an end to the conflict. On 25 July, President Clinton announced that the summit was over. He blamed Arafat for its failure, stating that Barak had demonstrated "courage, vision, and understanding of the historical importance of the moment." The US also held the Arab states partially responsible for encouraging Arafat not to make any concessions regarding Jerusalem.
Following the breakdown of the summit, Arafat traveled to 23 capitals, seeking support for a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state. All the leaders he met persuaded him not to pursue this route. Israeli leaders were also busy explaining their country's position to European and Middle Eastern leaders. American efforts continued to focus on seeking Arab help to force Arafat to make concessions on Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Barak lost much of his Knesset support. Foreign Minister Levy resigned on 2 August and was replaced by Internal Security Minister Ben-Ami (who had participated in the Camp David summit). Hopes were now pinned on attempts to resume the Israel-PA talks. These efforts were encouraged by the United States, the EU, Egypt and Russia, but by the end of September no progress had been made.
On 28 September, Likud leader Ariel Sharon visited Judaism's most holy site, the Temple Mount. The visit, which did not include any mosque and which was coordinated with Muslim leaders, passed peacefully, but the next day violent rioting erupted on the Mount, during which four Palestinians died. This was the beginning of a second Intifada, aimed at bringing about the internationalization of the conflict, hurting Israel economically and diplomatically, but most of all sowing terror and fear on the streets of Israel.
The international community sought to intervene, but attacks by various Palestinian organizations shooting, bombing and stoning of Israeli civilians and soldiers occurred daily. By the end of 2000, some 30 Israelis had been killed and over 250 Palestinians had lost their lives. Particularly shocking was the televised lynching by a Palestinian mob of two Israeli reserve soldiers who had strayed accidentally into Ramallah in October 2000. In the same month, internal unrest led to rioting by Israeli Arabs, which resulted in the deaths of 13 youths.
In view of the worsening of the situatuion, President Clinton persuaded President Mubarak to call a summit conference at Sharm el-Sheikh on 16 October. Present at the summit were Barak, Arafat, the Egyptian and American Presidents, King Abdullah and EU foreign policy head Javier Solana. The conference lasted a day and upon its conclusion, Clinton announced that Barak and Arafat had agreed to issue public statements calling for an end to the violence and to set up an inquiry into the cause of the clashes. The PA also agreed to confiscate weapons and arrest Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.
Despite the summit, violence escalated, with Palestinians using mortar shells and anti tank grenades, and Israel responding with helicopter gun ships and jet fighters. Palestinian snipers also targeted the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo from the neighboring Christian village Beit Jallah. On 7 November, the White House announced that former Senator Mitchell would head a committee of inquiry, consisting of Turkey's President Suleiman Demirel, Norway's Foreign Minister Jagland, Senator Rudman and the EU's Javier Solana. But a month later, Barak concluded that his premiership was untenable, and announced his resignation. He called for elections of a new prime minister, which were fixed for 6 February 2001.
Meanwhile, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators continued to seek a solution to the conflict, aided by the American administration. On 23 December, President Clinton presented the teams with proposed parameters for a final status agreement. While Barak accepted Clinton's proposals, Arafat demanded certain clarifications. This delay caused Barak to state in early January 2001, that since elections in Israel were due to take place a month later, he could no longer take part in further negotiations. A last ditch effort to resume the talks while the Clinton administration was still in office was made by the arrival in the region of CIA Director George Tenet. On 20 January, Barak agreed to marathon talks in Taba to bring about a comprehensive final status agreement based on the Clinton parameters. The talks lasted until 28 Janauary when, in response to a vicious verbal attack on Israel by Arafat at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Barak halted the talks.
On 6 February 2001, Likud leader Ariel Sharon was elected Prime Minister of Israel by a landslide victory, gaining 62.4% of the vote. Barak conceded defeat and announced his intention to retire from the Knesset and from politics. Sharon set about forming a national unity government, and appointed Labor's Shimon Peres as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Binyamin Ben-Eliezer as Minister of Defense.