(Editor's note: the following are excerpts from remarks made by Rand Fishbein at the recent annual conference of Americans For a Safe Israel.)

Ever since the signing of the Oslo Accords in September, 1993, conventional wisdom has held that compliance by Israel and the PLO to both the letter and spirit of the agreement was key to its success, and hence, the future of the "peace process." This understanding was acknowledged by the signatories at the time, and was reaffirmed in subsequent years by the Israeli and Palestinian leadership, the U.S. Congress and the President in numerous speeches, resolutions and declarations.

This was not an unreasonable expectation. After all, no agreement, contract, or treaty can long survive attempts to undermine its integrity.

Yet, that is exactly what has happened. Over the last six years, the PLO has brazenly, and persistently, set about to circumvent virtually every term and condition of Oslo. They have done so with the tacit, if not express, approval of the U.S. Department of State which regularly, and unflinchingly, certifies that the PLO is in substantial compliance with the requirements of Oslo and its companion agreements. It does so even though the overwhelming pattern of available evidence clearly demonstrates otherwise.

So, too, the PLO has carried out its deception with the full knowledge of the White House, knowing all too well that the President and his advisors are unwilling to countenance the collapse of a process which they have worked so hard to nurture and in which they have invested so much political capital.

The fact remains that we have come to a point in the Oslo process where any discussion of Palestinian compliance has been rendered hollow, indeed meaningless, by the corruption of both language and law.

There is no common understanding between the parties as to what constitutes compliance. There are no effective sanctions for non-compliance. Tragically, and perhaps most importantly, there appears to be no political will on the part of either the U.S. or Israel to compel compliance when Palestinian violations do occur.

Indeed, the compliance provisions of Oslo and its companion agreements have become empty vessels, rhetorical weapons in the regional war of words rather than enforceable, objective realities.

The public record documenting Palestinian non-compliance is clear, abundant and growing with time. With shameless contempt, the Palestinians continue to:

   *   incite violence and mastermind terrorist acts;

   *   frustrate efforts to confiscate illegal weapons;

   *   defy prohibition against administrative offices in Jerusalem;

   *   oppose the crackdown on terrorist cells;

   *   resist the repeal of provisions of the PLO Charter calling for Israel's destruction; stockpile offensive weapons;

   *   train and equip paramilitary forces;

   *   publish official maps which make no mention of a Jewish State in the Middle East and depict a Palestinian entity encompassing all of sovereign Israel; and

   *   thwart the apprehension, prosecution and transfer of known criminals (twelve of whom are wanted by Israel, yet today serve in senior positions in the Palestinian police force).

Today, the Palestinian police force is over fifty percent larger than what is permitted under Oslo. Nine separate and distinct police detachments now operate in the territories. Despite claims by both the Administration and Palestinian leaders that the Palestinian Au-

Over the last six years, the PLO has brazenly, and persistently, set about to circumvent virtually every term and condition of Oslo.

None of these realities has had an effect on the relentless drive of the Administration toward its single-minded goal of establishing a Palestinian state on land to be ceded by Israel.

But perhaps most astonishingly, Israel has contributed significantly to its own predicament. For over three years, a Likud Government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has chosen to mute its criticism of Palestinian violations. On the surface, at least, it took this position in an effort to bolster Yassir Arafat's authority, keep the Oslo talks on track and avoid an open conflict with the U.S. Administration.

Yet, in doing so, Israel has become a hostage to the Peace Process, compromised its sovereignty and

(Continued on p.4)

May 1999               - 3 -               Outpost