Israel Foreign Ministry
THE WYE RIVER MEMORANDUM
Implementation/Non-Implementation of Palestinian Obligations
as at February 1, 1999
1. Obligations implemented by the Palestinian side
a. The PLO Charter
- On 14 December 1998, the PNC adopted a resolution amending the PLO
Charter.
b. Illegal weapons
- The Palestinian side issued a decree against illegal weapons. There
appears to have been some degree of confiscation of illegal weapons.
c. Incitement
- The Palestinian side has published a decree against incitement.
2. Obligations which have not been satisfactorily implemented
a. Security obligations:
- The Palestinian side has not yet taken the necessary steps to outlaw
terrorist organizations.
- Palestinian security cooperation with Israel is at best partial.
- The Palestinian side has not provided the detailed programs for
implementing the work plan for fighting terrorism which it undertook to
submit every two weeks.
- The 'revolving door' policy of symbolic short term arrests of security
offenders continues. The release of terrorist suspects is effected without
the required coordination with the United States.
- No verification has been received that the 30 wanted terrorists that the
Palestinian side undertook to detain are actually in genuine custody.
Israel's understanding is that less than half are in fact in detention.
b. Illegal weapons
- Israel has received no confirmation that illegal weapons have in fact
been confiscated and destroyed. The information received by Israel
indicates that only a small number of token confiscations have been
effected.
- Thousands of illegal weapons continue to be held in the areas under
Palestinian jurisdiction, in the hands of civilians, terrorist
organizations and even in the hands of the Palestinian armed forces.
- The Palestinian side refuses to implement the provision of the Interim
Agreement requiring it to agree the criteria for granting weapons licenses
within the Joint Security Committee. In the meantime, the Palestinian side
continues to issue weapons licenses, in disregard of its obligation under
the Interim Agreement and the Wye Memorandum.
- The law passed by the Palestinian side dealing with illegal weapons
violates the Interim Agreement in a number of respects. In particular, it
permits the import, export and manufacture, and allows the possession, of
weapons absolutely prohibited by the Interim Agreement.
c. Palestinian police
- The Palestinian side has still not transferred to Israel the list of
Palestinian policemen.
- The number of Palestinian policemen continues to be considerably larger
than the maximum number permitted by the Interim Agreement (30,000).
d. Incitement
- Despite continued incitement there has not yet been one case in which the
Anti-incitement decree has been enforced.
e. Unilateral actions
- Notwithstanding clear undertakings in Chairman Arafat's letter to Prime
Minister Rabin, dated September 9, 1993, the Interim Agreement, the note
for the Record and the Wye Memorandum, to resolve all issues related to
the final status through negotiations, the Palestinian side has repeatedly
stated its intention to unilaterally declare an independent state with
Jerusalem as its capital. The United States has stated that it is not only
opposed to such a declaration, but that even were it to be made after the
end of the interim period it would be "courting disaster".
f. Interim committees
- Despite repeated Israeli calls, the Palestinian side continues to refuse
to convene the Legal committee, which is intended to deal with such issues
as legal assistance, transfer of suspects, debt collection and so on, as
well as the Standing Cooperation Committee ("People to People").
g. Economic issues:
- Despite Palestinian undertakings to repay outstanding debts and to deal
with the problem of mass car thefts from Israel, no practical steps have
been taken by the Palestinian side. Recent attempts by Israel to reconvene
the Ad hoc Economic Committee established in the Wye Memorandum have met
with no response.
h. Palestinian legislation.
- Palestinian legislation is inconsistent with the provisions of the Interim
Agreement in many fields. As noted above, the Palestinian side refuses to
convene the Joint Legal Committee, one of the functions of which is to
deal with such discrepancies.
i. Release of Prisoners
-
The Palestinian side has raised new demands, insisting on the release of
terrorists with blood on their hands, which have no basis in any of the
agreements between the two sides. Rather than condemn or seek to calm the
violent demonstrations that have been fomented over this issue,
Palestinian leaders have condoned and even encouraged such violence.
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