Wye River Memorandum:
Status of Implementation as at March 1, 1999
--Ministry of Foreign Affairs - via IMRA 3/14/99:

"The Wye River Memorandum, signed in Washington
on October 23, 1998, sets out a series of specific obligations of the Israeli and Palestinian sides to be implemented in a phased approach in accordance with a detailed Time Line.

The implementation of the obligations set out in this Time Line was due to have been completed on 29 January 1999, but, as described below, most of the Palestinian obligations set out in the Memorandum are still awaiting implementation.

Since the obligations listed within the Time Line are chronological, Israel's obligations, which appear at the end of each stage, are dependent on the fulfillment of the prior Palestinian commitments within that stage.

This chronological approach is both the clear intention of the Time Line (for example in the period from week 2 to week 6, the meeting of the PCC (weeks two to four) is listed before the meeting of the PNC ( weeks four to six)), and also the practice adopted by the two sides to date (the first phase of the FRD was implemented only after the Israeli Government confirmed that the prior commitments of that phase had been fulfilled).

Despite internal political developments in Israel, the Government of Israel has reiterated its commitment to the Wye Memorandum in all its aspects, together with all the other Israel-Palestinian agreements. Israel will continue to negotiate all outstanding issues and implement its obligations on the basis of reciprocity.

Security obligations

Although there has been some security activity by the Palestinian security authorities in the Gaza Strip, this has been sporadic and focused on particular threats rather than uprooting the infrastructure of terrorist organizations. Accordingly, significant Palestinian security obligations are still outstanding.

In particular, the Palestinian side has not taken the necessary measures to "outlaw all organizations (or wings of organizations, as appropriate) of a military, terrorist or violent character and their support structure". The Palestinian side has also failed to engage in "full bilateral security cooperation" as required by the Memorandum, and to provide a detailed security work plan for the fight against terrorism.

Also of grave concern is the continuation of the "revolving door" policy whereby security offenders are subjected to token arrests and almost immediately released. In addition, not only has the Palestinian side not imprisoned the wanted terrorists that it undertook to arrest in the Wye talks, but to the contrary, and in violation of the vetting arrangements agreed at Wye, it continues to release terrorists from within its custody.

Illegal weapons

Under the Wye Memorandum, the Palestinian side undertook to establish a legal framework for the collection of illegal weapons, and also to take significant steps to collect and dispose of illegal weapons.

Following these commitments, the Palestinian side issued a decree against illegal weapons, but the Palestinian law on which this decree is based violates the Israeli-Palestinian agreements in a number of respects, including permitting the introduction and use of arms and ammunition absolutely prohibited by the Interim Agreement.

In practice, there are literally thousands of illegal weapons freely held in the areas under Palestinian jurisdiction, not only in the hands of civilians but also in the hands of the Palestinian Police.

These weapons considerably exceed the numbers permitted by the Interim Agreement and many of them, including mortars, mines and grenade launchers, are totally prohibited by the Agreement...

Palestinian Police

Under the Wye Time Line, the Palestinian side is obliged to fulfil its outstanding commitment under the Interim Agreement and transfer a list of Palestinian policemen to the Israeli side for its approval. In doing so, it should ensure that the number of policemen does not exceed 30,000, as prescribed by the Interim Agreement.

The size of the Palestinian police is currently considerably in excess of this number. Notwithstanding undertakings by the Palestinian side that the list will "shortly be transferred to Israel", only a partial list has been received by the Israeli side.

It should be recalled that the Memorandum requires not only that the list be transferred but also that the Monitoring and Steering Committee review the list and issue a report.

Preventing Incitement

In the Wye Memorandum, the Palestinian side undertook to issue a decree prohibiting "all forms of incitement to violence and terror" and to establish a mechanism which would "act systematically against all expressions or threats of violence or terror".

A decree was published by the Palestinian side on 19 November 1998, and although it makes no reference to terrorism as required by the Memorandum, and contains a number of legal inconsistencies, it was welcomed as a positive step by the Israeli side.

However, despite the decree, and the meetings of the trilateral Anti-incitement Committee, incitement to violence and terrorism continues, both by Palestinian officials and in the official Palestinian media.

PLO Charter

Israel was pleased to note that at a meeting in Gaza on 14 December 1998, the PNC adopted a resolution amending the PLO Charter, as required by its outstanding obligations from:

the exchange of letters between Chairman Arafat and Prime Minister Rabin dated September 1993, the exchange of letters attached to the Gaza-Jericho Agreement of May 1994, the Interim Agreement of September 1995 and the Note for the Record attached to the Hebron Protocol of January 1997.

Unilateral Actions

The Wye Memorandum restates the prohibition established in the previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements against initiating or taking any step which will change the status of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and the Gaza Strip.

However, notwithstanding the obligation to resolve this issue through negotiations, the Palestinian side has repeatedly stated its intention to unilaterally declare an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Such statements are inconsistent with the provisions of the Wye Memorandum, with the Interim Agreement, and with the undertaking in Chairman Arafat's letter of September 9, 1993, that "all outstanding issues relating to permanent status will be resolved through negotiations".

Further Redeployment (FRD)

The Wye Memorandum provides for three stages of further redeployment in the course of the Time Line. Each of these is listed at the end of the relevant phase and is contingent upon the implementation of the prior Palestinian commitments within that phase.

Upon completion of these commitments Israel is obliged to implement the FRD obligation. Thus, at the conclusion of the second phase, ending week 2 of the Time Line, Israel implemented the first stage of the FRD, transferring 2% of Area C to the status of Area B and 7.1% of Area B to Area A.

At the conclusion of the subsequent phases, Israel was to have implemented further stages of the FRD. However, as noted above, significant Palestinian obligations required to be implemented prior to these stages are still outstanding. Israel awaits implementation of these commitments so that it can implement its FRD undertakings on the basis of reciprocity.

Release of Prisoners

The release of prisoners by Israel was not specifically included in the Wye Memorandum, but it was agreed that 750 prisoners would be released in three phases.

Israel has released prisoners in full compliance with both the Wye understanding and the Interim Agreement, and with Israel's clear statement at the Wye talks that it would not release prisoners that were members of the Hamas or Islamic Jihad organisations or who have blood on the hands.