The Israeli government sealed off Gaza and the West Bank on March 28 and 30, respectively. AMOS WOLLIN is an Israeli commentator in Tel Aviv. MIRIAM TRAMER interviewed him for 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ about the situation in the occupied territories.
What has been happening since the closure?
There are curfews at refugee camps. There is no trade between Israel and the occupied territories. There is a problem for 120,000 workers who had been working in Israel. The general joblessness in the occupied territories is considered to be 55% of the work force. On the other hand, Israel has a building problem now because 75% of workers in the building trades come from the occupied territories.
How long do you expect the closure to last?
There is no limit, but I guess it is impossible for either side to tolerate it for too long.
In Israel there is fear of deterioration of the personal security situation. There is a kind of hysteria, and the separation which has now been created may calm down the situation a bit among the Israeli public.
The opposition and the colonisers speak of the necessity of an emergency regime with a national unity government to "put the house in order". They object to any kind of separation because that smells of withdrawal from the occupied territories. The emergency regime would involve all parties, which means bringing the right-wing parties into government.
What is the response of the PLO?
It wavers publicly with regard to the peace talks, but one can say that if obstacles are removed, the Palestinians will return to the peace talks, which are scheduled for April 20. The understanding is that Israel will make some concessions towards the Palestinians if the Palestinians agree to participate in the talks. That is the basis of the agreement between the Americans and the Israelis.
What is the response of Hamas?
They have recently taken a more pragmatic attitude, whether strategic or tactical, I cannot say. But they seem to fear their isolation and would seek some cooperation with the PLO.
They fear they are being turned into a scapegoat in the eyes of the world and that the deportees will be forgotten. They are now the "bad guys" in the eyes of the Americans; they have been blacklisted by them.
They are more agreeable to some kind of cooperation with the PLO although they are opposed to the peace talks. I think Hamas are caught irections. One is the need to be less isolated in the West. The other is the need to attract more of Palestinian sympathies.
What do you expect to be the effects of the sealing off of the territories?
If the Israelis stop the sealing off, that will be seen as a relief, and this will maybe give the Palestinians a push to justify more their participation in the peace talks.
Of course, there is a growing hatred on the part of the Palestinians and there is probably also more sympathy among them for Hamas — not so much for the ideology of Hamas, but more a frustration which attracts them to Hamas.
But as I say, Israel may be forthcoming once the Palestinians agree to go back to the peace talks, according to the agreement with the Americans. Then there may be some concessions a) with the deportees, and b) with human rights in the occupied territories. But that can only come off when the talks really start.