Summary
The memorandum signed at the White House on 23 October 1998 by Benjamin Netanyahu and Yasir Arafat, after the summit convened by President Bill Clinton at the Wye River Plantation, Maryland on 15 October 1998, providing for phased Israeli redeployment in parallel with Palestinian security measures; its implementation was suspended by Israel on 20 December 1998 (Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem: Part V (1989-2000), PDF p.64-66).
Details
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Under phases one and two, 13 per cent of Area C was to be transferred to Area A (1 per cent) and Area B (12 per cent) in three stages, 3 per cent classified as “green area/natural reserve”, and an additional 14.2 per cent was to be transferred from Area B to Area A, within 12 weeks (Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem: Part V (1989-2000), PDF p.64).
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The Palestinian side agreed to outlaw and combat terrorist organizations and their infrastructure, confiscate illegal weapons, apprehend suspects and maintain “continuous, intensive and comprehensive” security cooperation, and to decree against “all forms of incitement to violence and terror”; the sides undertook not to alter the status of the West Bank and Gaza, and to resume permanent status talks on an accelerated basis with the goal of agreement by 4 May 1999 (Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem: Part V (1989-2000), PDF p.64).
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On 19 November 1998 the Israeli Cabinet approved the Memorandum on conditions the Palestinians rejected, including renunciation of a unilateral declaration of a State on 4 May 1999; on 20 November a protocol completed redeployment from 2 per cent of Area C and 7.1 per cent of Area B to Area A, and the Gaza Airport Protocol was signed (Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem: Part V (1989-2000), PDF p.65).
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Prisoner release was not explicitly addressed in the Memorandum; an oral understanding that Israel would release 750 prisoners in three stages became a subject of heated controversy, and permanent status talks were postponed on 24 November and again on 3 December 1998 (Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem: Part V (1989-2000), PDF p.65).
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The study’s Annex II reproduces the Memorandum’s attached timeline in full: Stage 1 redeployment (2% C to B, 7.1% B to A) by Week 2, Stage 2 (5% C to B) in Weeks 2-6, and Stage 3 (5% C to B, 1% C to A, 7.1% B to A) in Weeks 6-12, alongside the security work plan, weapons collection, anti-incitement and Charter-letter steps (Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem: Part V (1989-2000), PDF p.87).
Related pages
Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem: Part V (1989-2000), Interim Agreement, Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum, Benjamin Netanyahu, Bill Clinton, Dennis Ross