The elation of the Jewish community over the signing of the Wye accords was muted, at best.
Even here in the Bay Area — where five years ago Jews and Palestinians gathered together before TV sets to watch the signing of the Oslo Accords — there were no joint audiences this time around.
President Clinton deserves a lot of credit for bringing two unwilling partners together at Wye. At the same time, he learned that you can’t whip up a soufflé without egg whites and an egg beater.
Sure everyone smiled last Friday before the TV cameras and made the required speeches. But they left for home with the same mistrust they arrived with nine days earlier.
And as a result we are watching the soufflé collapse in the oven of Mideast politics.
The cabinet didn’t meet yesterday to affirm the agreement despite an earlier indication that it would happen.
The Palestinians are unlikely to deliver the promised security-agreement today. Apparently the Wye accord raised too many hopes and expectations that neither party is anxious to keep.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived home to find his long-time supporters calling him a traitor — just as they did assassinated Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin.
There are already death threats against Netanyahu. And there is a growing movement to dissolve the Knesset and hold new elections next March.
It is unlikely Wye could be implemented by a lame-duck government.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s minions believe that he should have held out for more land and a promise of a Palestinian state. The radical Hamas has promised to escalate violence against Israel.
Maybe all of this is just posturing. Maybe a week from now the reluctant signers will show the world that this Wye agreement is more than just a piece of paper. Maybe we should remain optimistic. Maybe the soufflé will rise.
Or maybe it burn.