of many ideas and proposals during the 15 days, the ground-rules of the Camp David talks established that these negotiating points would be considered null and void in the even that an agreement could not be reached. However, in an effort to guide future negotiations, a trilateral statement was issued that outlines the principles they agreed upon earlier. The first part of the statement said that the aim of the negotiations was to bring an end to the decades of violence between these nations, and to achieve a just and lasting peace. The second was a commitment by the two sides to search for an agreement on permanent status issues. They agreed that the only way to achieve such an agreement is to base their negotiations on UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. Both sides were going to avoid unilateral actions and agreed that their differences will be resolved by good faith negotiations. And finally, both sides agreed that the United States is a vital partner in their negotiations. (Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs)Despite these established negotiating positions, the two nations were still unable to come to a formal, lasting agreement. The Israeli government angrily blames the collapse of these talks on Arafat, for what they see as obstinacy for not accepting the generous concession offered by Barak. Nevertheless, to the Palestinians, his offers were not generous enough. Barak failed to meet the needs for final negotiation, despite his offers for a divided Jerusalem and a Palestinian state. Disappointed in the outcome, the Israeli government felt that Arafat “failed to make the historic decisions necessary to end the conflict.” (“Home from Camp David) In the final days of the summit, it came down to Barak’s confident and bold offers that were denied by Arafat.Further preventing the possibility of peace was the fact that Arafat did not once suggest a counteroffer of what the Palestinian people ne...
