ABSTRACT
The Arab-Israeli peace negotiations seek alternative ways to meet Israel's security needs and are premised on the assumption that a stable security regime in the long run must encompass political, economic, and social dimensions, as well as military aspects. Israel maintains buffer zones on all sides: the zone seized and held in south Lebanon, the Syrian Golan Heights, the West Bank facing Jordan, and the Sinai peninsula. The bilateral negotiations with Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan that began at Madrid in October 1991 created the possibility for Israel to achieve strategic accords with its immediate neighbors. The demise of the bipolar world has ended military and diplomatic support for Syria from the former Soviet Union and has resulted in a regional military balance highly favorable for Israel. The official Israeli position shifted with the change of government in July 1992 from the Likud party, led by Yitzhak Shamir, to the Labor party, under the leadership of Yitzhak Rabin.
