Today, in 2005, the Sharm a-Sheikh summit – which officially ended the second intifada – was convened.
The Israeli-Palestinian peace process hit a dead end in the late 90s, and after the failure of Camp David in 2000, US President Clinton accused Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat of insincerity and lack of an urge to make peace with Israel. Within a few months, Arafat’s true intentions were revealed, when the Palestinians exploited the visit of opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the Temple Mount as a pretext for war – or at least an intifada: A wave of terror has erupted throughout Israel and Judea and Samaria, which claimed hundreds of Israeli lives. The Intifada was characterized by suicide bombing attacks and unimaginable cruelty; the IDF and the security establishment managed to begin its suppression with Operation ‘Defensive Shield’ in the spring of 2002, but the terrorism did not stop. It was not until Arafat’s death in 2004 that a change of direction was identified, and in early 2005 his successor Abu-Mazen (Abbas) met with Sharon (who had been elected prime minister back in 2001) in Sharm a-Sheikh, Egypt, where he agreed to halt terrorism and increase security cooperation. This agreement has given its signals, and indeed no wave of established and instituted terror has erupted extensively since then.
Photo Source: Wikipedia
