TY - JOUR
T1 - Missing the Spoiler
T2 - Israel’s Policy with Regard to Hamas during the Oslo Talks and the First Stages of the Implementation of the Oslo Accords
AU - Ben-Dror, Elad
AU - Flamer, Netanel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Taylor & Francis.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - The article examines how Israel related to the threat that Hamas posed to the peace process, both during the talks that led to the signing of the Declaration of Principles (December 1992–September 1993) and then until the signing of the Oslo 2 agreement (September 1995). The Israeli negotiators and leaders were locked into the idea that the PLO would “deal with Hamas” because of its clear interest to do so. During the talks, however, there was no detailed discussion of the matter. Instead, the negotiators focused—and with full justification—on the important achievement of an accord with the PLO and its agreement to refrain from terrorism. This, reinforced by the assumption that the PLO would suppress Hamas, paved the way for the signing of the Declaration of Principles without any concrete attention to Hamas. Thus Hamas terrorism proved to be a major obstacle to the fulfillment of the Oslo Accords. Hamas bomb attacks killed many Israelis and undermined Israelis’ faith in the process. In parallel, the IDF activity to thwart Hamas, which involved major operations on the ground, as well as the accords’ failure to produce an economic upturn for the Palestinians, diminished their support for the agreement.
AB - The article examines how Israel related to the threat that Hamas posed to the peace process, both during the talks that led to the signing of the Declaration of Principles (December 1992–September 1993) and then until the signing of the Oslo 2 agreement (September 1995). The Israeli negotiators and leaders were locked into the idea that the PLO would “deal with Hamas” because of its clear interest to do so. During the talks, however, there was no detailed discussion of the matter. Instead, the negotiators focused—and with full justification—on the important achievement of an accord with the PLO and its agreement to refrain from terrorism. This, reinforced by the assumption that the PLO would suppress Hamas, paved the way for the signing of the Declaration of Principles without any concrete attention to Hamas. Thus Hamas terrorism proved to be a major obstacle to the fulfillment of the Oslo Accords. Hamas bomb attacks killed many Israelis and undermined Israelis’ faith in the process. In parallel, the IDF activity to thwart Hamas, which involved major operations on the ground, as well as the accords’ failure to produce an economic upturn for the Palestinians, diminished their support for the agreement.
KW - Arab-Israeli conflict
KW - Hamas
KW - Israel
KW - Oslo Accords
KW - PLO
KW - peace process
KW - spoiler
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85169791318&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/09546553.2023.2242511
DO - 10.1080/09546553.2023.2242511
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AN - SCOPUS:85169791318
SN - 0954-6553
JO - Terrorism and Political Violence
JF - Terrorism and Political Violence
ER -