A meaningless peace process

Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai's threat that his forces are more than able to recapture Hebron and all the other Palestinian cities and towns under Palestinian control is not exactly the kind of confidence-building talk that the Arab side would like to hear in order to take Israeli peace intentions seriously.

The cities and villages that Mordechai was referring to have just been handed over to the Palestinians, but only after painstaking negotiations. If Israel wants now to tell the Palestinian side that everything already achieved can be rolled back with the use of a few tanks, then the peace process that has been carefully nurtured is indeed more shallow than originally thought.

President Bill Clinton has challenged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to match his words about his offer to accelerate the pace of the peace talks with the Palestinian National Authority with deeds. Only a determined effort by the U.S. would put the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations back on track. It is time to make this U.S. determination clear for all to see, particularly the Israeli government.

-- The Jordan Times, Amman