"The Americans
knew from the very
beginning about
the Oslo channel."
Yair Hirschfeld
that polls depend on the ques-
tions asked — exactly the same
argument people on the other
side used in response to earlier
polls showing overwhelming
support for the peace talks.
"Basically, public opinion in
Israel remains very much in fa-
vor of the peace process," he
said. "But people are irritated
about terrorism and violence.
That may be reflected in the
polls."
And that, he said, could pose
a problem for the Rabin gov-
ernment as it pursues a "fly
high and fast" approach to the
talks based on the notion that
the longer it takes to capitalize
on the dramatic events of Sept.
13, the more organized and ef-
fective the opposition may be-
come.
He said he remains cau-
tiously optimistic that the ne-
gotiations designed to flesh out
the accord hammered out in
Oslo will succeed, despite hints
that Israel will not be ready to
begin its pullout from Gaza and
Jericho by the Dec. 13 target.
"We are very close to an
agreement," he said. "There has
been a lot of headway on secu-
rity arrangements for Gaza and
Jericho — how to take care of
the settlers, how to permit the
Palestinians to built up their se-
curity forces. There has been
progress on the issues of eco-
nomic development."
But he acknowledged that
things are at a very delicate
stage.
"I can tell you that the most
dangerous moments in a nego-
tiation are when you are very
close to an agreement," he said.
"The last percent is always the
most difficult one. And right
now, we are very close."
He also cautioned that the
model of private diplomacy he
helped create in his months of
talks with the Palestinians is
probably not applicable to the
Syrian context.
"The main difference is that
with the Palestinians, before
the backchannel started, there
was a long process of non-polit-
ical, cultural dialogue of acade-
mics, writers and artists," he
said.
"That doesn't exist with the
Syrians. We have no similar di-
alogue with the Syrian people."
Despite his breathtaking mo-
ments in the limelight, Mr.
Hirschfeld insists his life has
not really changed. Ever the
scholar, he responds cautious-
ly to questions about how he felt
when it became apparent that
he was right in the middle of
one of the most amazing diplo-
matic stories in recent memo-
rY.
"It was satisfying," he said,
smiling at the obvious under-
statement. "But in a way it's
like climbing a high, high
mountain, getting to the top —
and seeing that there are fur-
ther mountains ahead. We got
to one top, but I can see the fur-
ther climbing ahead of us. But
we can feel that what we did
was very meaningful, that it
has already changed reality." ❑
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ization Chairman Yassir
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DECEMBER
the very beginning about the
Oslo channel," he said. "Dan
Kurtzer (a top State Depart-
ment official) was kept informed
throughout the process. The
U.S. government very cleverly
supported the entire exercise by
simply staying outside."
He was not surprised by the
continuing violence by groups
determined to wreck the move
towards peace.
"When the moderates get
ahead and there is progress in
peacemaking," he said, "the ex-
tremists are afraid they will be
totally marginalized, so they by
to undermine the process.
That's what they are doing.
It's not surprising, since there
are extremists on both sides."
He predicted that Hamas,
the militant Islamic group that
has rejected the Israeli-PLO
pact, will lose out to Yassir
Arafat's forces — as long as
there is progress in the imple-
mentation of the accord.
Mr. Hirschfeld also disputed
the accuracy of recent polls
showing a sharp decline in sup-
port for the Israeli-PLO deal
among Israeli voters, using the
standard political argument
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