Israeli-Palestinian Agreement Should Reduce Number of Flash Points
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: More perspective, now, on the current summit that has ended. From London, Rosemary Hollis, head of the Middle East program at the Royal Institute of International of Affairs. We welcome you to our program today. The first question is quite blunt: What are we to make of this peace agreement, and will, indeed, it take hold on the ground?</s>ROSEMARY HOLLIS, ROYAL INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS: Well, it's less that a peace agreement. It's is, at best, a cease-fire and President Clinton didn't even call it that. What is to be hoped for, which was the most that could be hoped for, is that you a pull-back of Israeli tanks from the entrances to Palestinian towns in the West Bank and Gaza, which is where the Palestinian youth have been confronting the Israeli troops. That will reduce the number of flash points, but it won't necessarily control the extremists on both sides who are not happy with the peace process, period.</s>HEMMER: Given all of that, there is a lot of criticism throughout this entire matter to the leaders and especially Yasser Arafat. How much sway does he hold with the Palestinian people?</s>HOLLIS: Well, it's a bit chicken and egg. He can't go out too far on a limb from his own population because he simply loses the power to deliver them if something is agreed. Over this whole issue of Jerusalem, which came up and was a sticking point at the Camp David summit July, that was what -- if he had some element of sovereignty over the Muslim holy site to take away on Jerusalem, it would have been easier for him to sell some of the unpalatable elements of the deal under discussion. I say unpalatable from a Palestinian perspective. From an Israeli perspective it was extremely generous, but that's not the same thing.</s>HEMMER: Given all of that, how do you proscribe to the idea that there was legitimate skepticism coming out of this summit in Sharm el- Sheikh?</s>HOLLIS: I think there's a great deal of skepticism coming out of Sharm el-Sheikh because, for one thing, it's not clear that the Palestinians on the street believe in the peace process and have any patience with the idea of getting back to that process. They want to know what, down the line, they get out of this and they're not impressed so far. I think that on the Israeli...</s>HEMMER: Pardon the interruption here -- just in the interests of time, part of the agreement out of Sharm el-Sheikh was that the leaders would, indeed, talk to their people and do it publicly. How long before we see and hear that?</s>HOLLIS: Before they talk to their people publicly?</s>HEMMER: Correct.</s>HOLLIS: Well, Arafat, on return to Gaza has already made a statement which enables him to say, that, if there is not compliance on the other side, then it's not his fault. Which is not auspicious, frankly. It suggests that whatever goes wrong with implementation, both sides are going to blame the other.</s>HEMMER: Rosemary Hollis from London; we apologize for the satellite delay here, it's out of our hands, but we appreciate your time and your thoughts today. Thank you very much.</s>HOLLIS: OK.