Yet, the vast majority of Palestinians want the confrontation to continue, said Palestinian political analyst Ghassan Khatib. In Israel, meanwhile, economic stagnation replaced last year's 6 percent growth, and tourism was down by half. Israeli hard-liners see their belief confirmed that the Palestinians are not serious about peace, and that it was a mistake to hand any land to Arafat. Israeli moderates are crushed by the collapse of peace hopes. Buses are regularly checked for suspicious objects and nightspots are employing greater security against terror attacks.
People are afraid to go out.
Settlers have become sitting ducks for shooting attacks on West Bank roads. Their communities are surrounded by sandbags. Soon after moderate Ehud Barak came to power in Israel in 1999 he set the fall of 2000 as the target date for such a deal. Israelis have struggled to comprehend how a deal they considered so generous was rejected. As a result, Barak lost his parliament majority and was crushed by lifelong hard-liner Ariel Sharon in a special election for prime minister four months ago.