Strategic Assessment

Ehud Barak’s election as prime minister in May 1999 resulted in expectations that Israel and the Palestinians would accelerate efforts to achieve a permanent agreement. At the same time, some voiced concern that the advancement in the peace process would prompt terrorist attacks similar to those in 1995-1996. Proponents point to the decrease in terrorism between 1996-99 when the peace process made little progress and the attempted bombings in Tiberias and Haifa in September 1999 after Israel and the Palestinian Authority reached another agreement.