September 29, 1995
Web posted at: 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT)
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Before the ink was even dry on the latest agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, opponents on both sides vowed to dismantle it. PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres signed the accord Thursday at a White House ceremony.
Polls show that most Palestinians and Israelis support the fragile peace process -- and leaders of the two sides, along with the United States, will continue to push for a final agreement.
Thousands of Jewish settlers descended on the West Bank town of Hebron Thursday, protesting the agreement that expands Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank. Israeli troops, currently stationed in the West Bank to protect the settlers, will pull out of six towns, remaining only in Hebron, where 400 settlers live in the midst of 100,000 Palestinians.
"There must be no question in the minds of all Jews and all (non-Jews) throughout Israel and throughout the world that the Jewish people will never separate itself from its roots," the settlers said in a statement.
The settlers, who believe that god promised them the land of West Bank, have vowed to topple the government they believe has betrayed them.
"This year, with God's help, we will succeed at seeing an evil government pass from the land," said settler leader Elyakim Haetzni, a former member of the Israeli parliament.
In Jerusalem, hard-liners staged a mock signing ceremony of their own, condemning the "peace process."
"It's not real peace, it's a fake peace," said Benjamin Netanyahu, a leader of the ultra conservative Likud Party who plans to challenge Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1996. "People in Washington may be happy, but here they are not," he said "Maybe this is the beginning of the end of Israel." (119K AIFF sound or 119K WAV sound)
Palestinians -- and other Arabs -- also protested the latest signing. Shops and schools in Hebron were closed on Friday, protesting the agreement that left Hebron as the only Palestinian town with an Israeli military presence. In the streets, protesters clashed with Israeli soldiers.
And the official Libyan news agency JANA called Thursday's signing "a black day in the history of the Arab nation."
"Arab revolutionaries will continue to fight for the liberation of occupied Palestine and will efface this shame to the Arab nation history and tear in pieces these documents," JANA said.
A polls showed that 70 percent of West Bank Palestinians support the peace process, and a bare majority of 51 percent of Israelis back the current agreement. (77K AIFF sound or 77K WAV sound) But that is more than enough to keep the process moving.
Talks on a final-status accord are due to begin in May 1996. Those talks will decide the fate of the West Bank's Jewish settlers.
And U.S. President Bill Clinton met Friday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Hussein, both of whom attended the signing. The three reportedly discussed the stalled Israel-Lebanon and Israel-Syria talks, with an eye toward restarting those peace negotiations.
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