Any informed assessment of the future direction of events in the West Bank must take as its point of departure a review of the main elements of current Israeli and Palestinian policies.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has adopted a wide-ranging and dynamic policy that makes no reference to Palestinians or the Oslo framework. This spirit of unilateralism has long been a central feature of Israel’s policies in the occupied territories.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, an advocate of nonviolence, hopes to assert the leadership of the PA over Palestinian factions and their violent resistance to continuing occupation in an effort to convince Israel to resume negotiations on final status issues and restore territorial and security attributes lost during the intifada.