MIDDLE EAST HOURGLASS:

• December 15, 1996: US President Bill Clinton attacks Israeli government for restoring financial incentives to Jews in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
• 18/12: Report: PM Netanyahu has decided not to implement the plans to build a new Jewish neighbourhood in Ras el-Amud, Jerusalem.
• 18/12: Israeli Ambassador to US predicts Clinton's criticism of Israel's settlement policy may encourage Arafat to harden his positions.
• 19/12: PA announces it has tried and sentenced to life imprisonment the two killers of a Jewish mother and child in December. Israel protests, insists they be extradited, as stipulated by Oslo.
• 19/12: Senior American official warns US will sharply cut loan guarantees if Netanyahu moves ahead with settlement expansion.
• 20/12: Netanyahu advisor David Bar-Ilan says government might live with limited version Palestinian state; PLO reacts cooly.
• 20/12: President Ezer Weizmann sparks furore when he calls homosexuality "abnormal".
• 21/12: US envoy Dennis Ross arrives in Israel to push ahead Hebron talks.
• 21/12: Reports out of Lebanon say 62 Christian Lebanese opposed to Syrian control over their country have been detained.
• 22/12: Chief of Israeli Airforce says possibility of Arab Israeli war "no longer low".
• 22/12: Three firebombs thrown in Hebron; IDF imposes curfew.
• 23/12: PLO "Justice Minister" Freih Abu Meddien says PA considers it a capital offence for an Arab to sell land to Jews.
• 25/12: Anti-budget cut strikes cause chaos at Ben Gurion Airport.
• 25/12: Ross flies home to report to Clinton on state of Hebron talks.
• 26/12: IDF deputy chief Matan Vilnai says chances of war with Syria are increasing.
• 27/12: Israeli anti-terror unit tells Netanyahu it will be impossible to prevent terror attacks against Hebron Jews after redeployment.
• 28/12: Jews demonstrate in Hebron against the IDF redeployment.
• 29/12: Report: GSS heads advised Netanyahu to remove Jews from Hebron.
• 29/12: Arafat meets Egypt's Hosni Mubarak to strategise on future of peace process.
• 29/12: Report: Jordan's King Hussein sent letter to Netanyahu suggesting that Jerusalem be called the capital of the world's three major religions.
• 29/12: Netanyahu says Israel is redeplying its troops in not from Hebron.
• 30/12: Further strikes shut down country.
• 30/12: Jew shoots dead PLO policeman who infiltrated Gaza Strip Jewish community.
• 31/12: Arafat says he is now willing to initial Hebron agreement.
• January 1, 1997: Israeli soldier shoots into Hebron casbah: wounds seven Arabs.
• 1/1: Outgoing Swiss President Jean-Pascal Delamuraz says Jews have resorted to blackmail in seeking compensation on Jewish assets deposited in Swiss banks before and during World War II.
• 1/1: Clinton sends Netanyahu a letter praising his "bravery" at working to conclude Hebron deal.
• 1/1: IDF warplanes bomb Hizb'Allah targets in Lebanon, after terrorists fire on Israeli outpost in south Lebanon.
• 1/1: Knesset passes Israel's 1997 budget with NIS 7 billion cut.
• 2/1: Arafat stalls Hebron negotiations.
• 2/1: Syria accuses Israel of bus bombing in Damascus, which killed nine; Jerusalem denies allegation.
• 3/1: Beit El settlers move seven mobile homes onto hilltop overlooking their community; leave peacefully after defence minister agrees to discuss erecting IDF post on site.
• 3/1: Netanyahu promises he will not yield to PLO demands for joint security maintenance at Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs, nor to set date for third IDF pullback.
• 5/1: Netanyahu, Arafat meet secretly at Erez Crossing. PM reports "progress" made.
• 5/1: Jewish Agency and World Jewish Congress threaten to boycott Swiss banking community in response to "Jewish blackmailing" accusation.
• 6/1: Ross shuttles between Netanyahu and Arafat in effort to secure agreement.
• 7/1: Arafat is reportedly "furious" at Netanyahu's proposal of a date in 1999 for the final IDF pullback from rural areas of disputed territories.
• 8/1: CNN reports Swiss bank shares on NYSE drop due to Jewish boycott threats.
• 8/1: Hizb'Allah kills IDF soldier, wounds eight others in southern Lebanon.
• 8/1: Katyusha rocket fired from Lebanon into Western Galilee; Israel warplanes strike back.
• 9/1: Double pipe-bombing in Tel Aviv injures 12.
• 9/1: US compromise proposal suggests final IDF withdrawal should take place during 1988.
• 10/1: Hizb'Allah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad vow new "suicide attacks" against Israel.
• 11/1: Arab students at Bir Zeit University burn a model of a Jerusalem # 18 bus, two of which were bombed last year, killing scores of passengers.
• 12/1: King Hussein's personal mediation brings Hebron deal nearer.
• 13/1: Saudi pro-government newspaper's offices in London and at the UN targeted by letter bombs.
• 14/1: Hebron accord initialed after Netanyahu, Arafat meet at Erez checkpoint.
• 15/1: Israeli cabinet approves Hebron agreement following heated 13-hour debate; Science Minister Ze'ev Begin resigns in protest.
• 17/1: Israeli troops hand over Hebron to PLO.

Back to Middle East Digest - February 1997
Back to Middle East Digest Page {} Return to Home Page