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Article: Blundering towards a solution. (Israel's blockade of Occupied Territories may yet result in a Palestinian state)
- Article from:
- The Middle East
- Article date:
- May 1, 1993
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 IC Publications Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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NO ONE WOULD accuse Yitzhak Rabin of being unduly subtle. The Israeli prime minister took power after the elections in June 1992 pledged to break the logjam in peace talks with the Arabs which his predecessor, Yitzhak Shamir, had deliberately maintained. Bashing away at obstacles is Rabin's style. He was only too happy to display his penchant for toughness in the late 1980s when as defence minister in an uneasy coalition with Shamir's Likud party he pursued an "iron fist" policy in the Occupied Territories.
Rabin's problem is that since becoming prime minister he has been impulsively vigorous when restraint would be more statesmanlike (as, for example, his ...