Two Israelis are killed by a powerful…
November 2000 CE
Two Israelis are killed by a powerful car bomb on November 2, 2000, at central Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market, a frequent target of attacks.
Islamic Jihad takes credit for the bombing.
Israeli leaders charge that Arafat, unhappy about elements in the peace package, is trying to internationalize the conflict and to render the American facilitating role less central.
Some observers argue that the main obstacle is not Jerusalem but the Palestinian refugees and that for historic and emotional reasons it is difficult for Arafat to declare an end of the conflict with less than a full resolution of this highly complex issue.
Since his government had received an additional 6.1% of the West Bank on March 21, Arafat is in full or partial control of 42.9% of that area, and there is speculation that, on the crest of the new uprising, he will make the unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood that he has postponed several times.
Barak warns that if he does, Israel will establish the borders between Israel and the Palestinian state unilaterally.
The Palestinians had been swayed into believing they could force Israel to end its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza by Israel's unilateral pullback from Lebanon.