Middle East

All eyes are turned towards Israel following the victory of the Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu in the May 29, 1996 general election. U.S. President Bill Clinton said that policy towards Israel and the Middle East process would remain unchanged, no matter who won the election.

Meanwhile the Arab states are alarmed by Netanyhu's victory. A hard-liner, the new prime minister pledged no territorial concessions, no compromise on Jerusalem, and further Jewish settlement in the territories. Syria and Israel have achieved little after five years of peace talks. Damascus insists on a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Golan Heights, which Israel captured in l967. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat insisted that his people would soon have a state of their own with Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem as its capital. But Netanyahu reaffirmed that Israel intends to resume negotiations with all neighbors without prior conditions.

Arab states have held several meetings to discuss the Middle East issues. Syria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia stressed in a statement that their countries were still committed to making peace with Israel as a strategic option. But they warned that any shifts in Israeli peace policy under Netanyahu would plunge the Middle East into violence.

NINA KURNIA WIDHI

Jakarta