ABSTRACT
The world was on vacation for New Year’s Eve, slowly returning to the work routine only four to five days later. In Israel, the “peace cabinet” convened on January 1, 2001. The prime minister assessed that Arafat would not be able to endorse an agreement that would not include the Right of Return. Therefore, the chairman was not going to make any step toward an agreement in the next ten days. “We have to focus on an immediate cessation of violence and we must continue preparing for unilateral disengagement,” concluded Barak.
