Jerusalem market bombed, Israeli Cabinet's Wye talks stopped

The Israeli Cabinet halted talks on the Wye Plantation agreement after a bomb attack in Jerusalem which media reports said claimed at least two lives, reportedly those of the bombers, and injured at least 20 others.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's media advisor released a government resolution that accused the Palestinians of trying to evade the implementation of the Wye agreement.

This latest halt comes after a series of Israeli delays this week in implementing the agreement, which was to take effect on Monday, first because the Cabinet and Knesset had not approved the agreement and then because Netanyahu insisted that the Palestinian security plan was incomplete, despite its acceptance by the US.

Israeli Cabinet meetings on ratifying of the agreement, which finally got underway yesterday, have now come to a halt in light of the Jerusalem bombing and other attacks that have been carried out since the agreement was signed on October 23.

At the signing ceremony, US President Bill Clinton said that, "The enemies of peace will seek to extract a price from both sides," adding that, "Every effort will have to be exerted to ensure the faithful implementation of this agreement." Arafat also noted that the Wye agreement "has many enemies."

Today President Clinton said both Netanyahu and Arafat "knew they would face this moment" adding "there are some people who have a big stake in continued hate and misery."

Clinton said that "the agreement" is the best way to safety for the Israeli people and the aspirations of the Palestinian people.

Though responsibility for the incident has not been determined, today's Israeli government delay is to last until the Israelis believe that the Palestinian government is ready to fulfill the agreement, the resolution said.