ABSTRACT
Developments within the West Bank such as Jewish settlement activity, Arab political unrest, and the autonomy negotiations have had a wide influence on larger political trends in the Middle East. A major reason for Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982 was to undermine the power and influence of the PLO and to isolate the West Bank from the organization. Annexation is the option most favored by the Likud bloc and other even more nationalist factions, several of them represented in the NUG. Their rationale is more ideological than security based. Although establishment of an independent Palestinian Arab state is the option preferred by most inhabitants of the West Bank according to public opinion polls, it has been rejected by most political factions in Israel, including those in the NUG. The Camp David autonomy plan was deliberately vague, so that it could be interpreted differently by each signatory to the agreement.
