November 19, 2003

 Israel and the Palestinians are trying to work out the details of a deal where Israel would stop all offensive operations in Palestinian areas and the Palestinian terrorist organizations would stop attacks in Israel and against Jewish settlers in Palestinian territory. But problems remain as the Israelis want the ability to attack terrorists who are in the process of carrying out an attack. This is not acceptable to many Palestinians. Moreover, the Palestinians cannot guarantee that all terrorist groups will abide by the terms of the deal. Many Israelis want to take a chance on this kind of deal, but unless a majority of Israelis go along with it, the government will probably not risk getting voted out of power by risking more terrorist attacks.