he Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank on the Gaza Strip was signed. The main objective of this was to encourage Palestinian self-government in the West Bank by means of an elected self-governing authority for a maximum of five years. The negotiations on the permanent status began on May 5, 1996. The focus of these negotiations was to deal with the remaining issues at hand: Jerusalem, refugees, security arrangements, and borders. (Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs)On July 11, 2000, in the hopes of forming a lasting peace between the nations, Ehud Barak, Prime Minister of Israel, Yasir Arafat, and President Bill Clinton met at Camp David. Sadly, this attempt to bring about peace ended in failure, and sent both leaders home discouraged. The receptions of the two leaders in their respective countries were markedly different. Arafat, who did not give in to Israeli and American pressure, was greeted as a hero, while Barak returned to an unsatisfied, unstable government. The essential issues discussed at the Summit included the fate of Palestinian refugees, the status of Jerusalem, borders of a Palestinian state, and the status of Jewish settlements on the West Bank. Although progress was made on some of these issues, it was presumably the issues surrounding Jerusalem that caused the Summit to collapse on July 25, 2000. Barak offered autonomy over Palestinian areas in the Old City and some sovereignty at the Dome of the Rock. He also offered to redraw and divide Jerusalem, also agreeing that the formation of a Palestinian state is necessary. These concessions were extremely radical, and did not receive a warm reception by the entire Israeli government. In any case, those arrangements were hardly acceptable for any Arab leader. As Arafat himself had said, “The Arab leader has not been born who would give up Jerusalem.” (“Home from Camp David”)Notwithstanding Israel’s presentation ...
