Israel's History:
1999

1999:
by Rosa Blumenfeld, 2002-2003 Pinwheel Israel Affairs VP

• Fifty days after voters rejected the hard-line policies of Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party in favor of a center-left coalition, former army chief Ehud Barak took the oath of office as Israel's new prime minister.
• On September 4, 1999, the Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum was signed in Egypt by Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat. This stipulated the commitment of both sides to put the timetable agreed to in the Oslo Accords back on track.
• Throughout the year, Hamas and the PIJ (Palestinian Islamic Jihad) were responsible for numerous small-scale attacks, such as shootings and stabbings, although the number of incidents continued to decline from previous years. Among the more notable attacks were two failed bombing attempts in Haifa and Tiberias on 5 September carried out by Israeli Arabs working on behalf of Hamas's military wing.
• Talks were launched at a summit meeting with President Clinton in Washington on December 15, with Prime Minister Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk a-Shara about peace between the two countries.