3. The Middle East peace process*
Peter Jones and Gunilla Flodén

After what could have been a breakthrough in early 1997 over Israeli withdrawal from Hebron, renewed Israeli settlement activity stalled the Israeli-Palestinian talks. The peace process was further marred by new outbreaks of terrorist activity. There were no official talks between Israel and Syria, and the level of violence in Lebanon remained high. Internal fighting in Algeria worsened; conflicts in the Kurdish regions of Turkey and Iraq continued; and Islamic terrorists struck in Egypt, calling into question the government's assertion that it had defeated them. One hopeful indication came in Iran, where the pragmatic Mohammed Khatami was elected president by a wide margin. Although the new president has widespread popular support, he will face an uphill battle in trying to effect change against the wishes of the religious élite.

Appendix 3A contains excerpts from the 1997 Hebron Accord.