Both sides agreed that a Palestinian Authority PA would be established and assume governing responsibilities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over a five-year period. Then, permanent status talks on the issues of borders, refugees, and Jerusalem would be held.
By the time Clinton left office, however, the peace process had run aground, and a new round of Israeli-Palestinian violence had begun. The Clinton administration did not initially make Israeli-Palestinian peace a priority. An Israeli-Syrian agreement, they reasoned, would also lead to an Israeli-Lebanese agreement, and help isolate Iraq and Iran, the principal regional opponents of the peace process. The latter agreement divided the West Bank into separate areas under Israeli control, Palestinian control, and Israeli military responsibility with Palestinian civil administration, respectively.
Since the Oslo Accord did not give the United States monitoring responsibilities, the Clinton administration found itself largely confined to defusing crises and building up the Palestinian Authority with economic aid and security assistance.
On the Israeli-Syrian track, the administration exerted itself more forcefully, but with few results. The Israelis wanted to pull back to the international border, which would have left the Sea of Galilee under their sovereignty.
That July, Rabin indicated to Christopher that Israel would withdraw to the June 4 line if Syria met its other needs, paving the way for talks between Israeli and Syrian military officers.
