Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - January 5, 2001 - Arafat's Hope for an Agreement with Israel

Arafat's Hope for an Agreement with Israel

Warning from Leaders of 14 Palestinian Groups to Arafat

Review of the Draft Poverty Alleviation Bill, the same bill from 1996 that Khatami's government rejected.

Complete Daily Entry:

I was at my office in Koushk. Most of the time was spent studying, and we had light rain. Reports indicated that [Yasser] Arafat, after meeting with [Hosni] Mubarak, [the President of Egypt], stated that there is a possibility of reaching an agreement with Israel with the persistence of Clinton during the remainder of his presidency. However, leaders of the 14 Palestinian resistance groups warned him against granting concessions to Israel.

I reviewed the draft Poverty Alleviation Bill, which is almost the same as the bill that the Reconstruction Government [focusing on employment in 1996] submitted to the parliament. Mr. [Seyyed Mohammad] Khatami's government returned it at the start of its term, and four years have been wasted since then.