Mideast peace process near collapse

Under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel is celebrating its 50th anniversary in a manner that in many ways is provocative to its Arab peace partners.

The latest manifestation of this is Israel's reckless flouting of international norms by holding a military parade through Arab Jerusalem.

Another manifestation of Netanyahu's wanton disregard of international law is his recent orders to the so-called "Absentee Owners Authority" to start selling Palestinian properties left behind in the wake of the 1947-1948 war to Israelis.

This streak in the character of the Israeli leader is beginning to take its toll on what is left of the peace process.

Instead of referring to the string of suicide bombings in 1996 as the culprit for the demise of the Oslo accords, Netanyahu would be more correct in describing his own election as the event that led to the collapse of the entire peace process, exactly as Mrs. Rabin predicted two years ago.

-- The Jordan Times, Amman