Palestinians and the Peace Process ••• 413other Arab countries. Jordan's King Husayn had long talked secretly with
Israel about peace, but now he and his government worked openly to end
their state of war. In October 1994 Clinton, Husayn, and Rabin met at
the desert border between southern Israel and Jordan to sign a formal
Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty. Tunisia and Morocco formed consular ties
with Israel, and several of the small Gulf states hastened to make business
deals with the Jewish state. Starting in 1994 most Middle Eastern countries
attended an annual economic development conference, though Arab gov¬
ernments critical of Israel's policies boycotted the 1997 meeting at Doha.
The US continued to hope that Syria's government would sign a peace treaty
with Israel in exchange for a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from the
Golan Heights, but even a personal visit by Clinton to Asad in 1994 did not
bridge the chasm between Damascus and Jerusalem. The Arab states met in
that year to coordinate their diplomatic strategies, for they had become as
disunited in making peace as in waging war.
In September 1995 Israel and the Palestinians signed another agreement
(often called Oslo II), containing an intricate plan for Israel's gradual with¬
drawal from the West Bank (but not any part of Jerusalem). Oslo II set up
three West Bank zones. Zone A comprised eight West Bank cities, including
Jericho, which was already Arab-controlled. Palestinian authorities would
become responsible for its internal security and public order, except for
parts of Hebron containing Jewish settlers. Zone B consisted of other West
Bank towns and villages, where Palestinian police would eventually main¬
tain order but Israel retained overriding authority for security. Zone C in¬
cluded Jewish settlements, unpopulated areas, and lands Israel viewed as
strategic. Israel retained full security authority for Zone C, pending "final
status" talks. The redeployment of Israeli troops was to occur at six-month
intervals. Israel and the Palestinians were to form joint patrols, and Israel
would build bypass roads for its settlers. The Palestinians were empowered
to elect a president and an eighty-two-member council. Jerusalem's Arab
inhabitants could not run but could cast absentee ballots in the elections,
which were held in January 1996.
Israeli and Palestinian extremists combined to derail the peace process.
Prime Minister Rabin was killed by a Jewish fundamentalist just after ad¬
dressing a peace rally in November 1995. His successor, Shim'on Peres, did
not enjoy as much popular support, as the May 1996 general elections
showed. Due in part to two suicide-bombing attacks by Hamas, the Israeli
electorate voted by a narrow margin to replace Peres and his Labor govern¬
ment with the Likud leader, Benjamin Netanyahu. The Likud had opposed
peace talks with the PLO (and indeed the permanent-status talks were
suspended) but promised to fulfill Israel's commitments under the Oslo