Israel is litterally surrounded by sworn enemies. Lebanon, Palestine and Syria have not made any final agreements of peace, unlike Egypt and Jordan. The fragile Oslo peace agreement between the Palestinians ( PLO ) and Israel is entering a critical stage, with the implimentation of the Wye interim accords. To catch up, read these previous Bongo's Fallout Shelter opinion articles:A ' Peace ' of The Action? ( 10-20-98 ) , Send More Arabs!!! ( 10-21-98 ) , Netanyahu Clintonized? ( 10-30-98 ) , Hamas Halloween Party? ( 10-31-98 ) , Peace in pieces? ( 11-6-98 ) and Conditional Surrender? ( 11-13-98 ) .

Not to be out done by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah guerrillas claimed responsibility for a mortar and rocket attack on the Israeli Dabshe outpost, north of Marjayoun, the main town in the southern Lebanon terrotory that Israel has occupied since 1985. One Israeli soldier was reported killed and two more were wounded, when the terrorist guerrillas targetted another near-by outpost. Though not quite as cowardly as the recent Palestinian attacks on completely helpless civilians, this sneak attack should put the Israelis on notice that with the softening of hostilities in Gaza, the mad dog arabs will try to pick up the slack elsewhere. Israeli jets reportedly responded by bombing the usual suspect neighborhoods in southern Lebanon. Lebanese officials claimed that three children were wounded in the Israeli raid; yeah, right!

Since ' The Clinton ' had his precious signing ceremony, there have been at least three incidents by militant arabs, designed to hinder the peace process in Palestine ( one for each major terrorist organization ). On the heals of these attacks, Israel has asked the United States for aid in building a security and transportation structure on and about the West Bank area. I assume part of the secret dealings between Clinton and Netanyahu was for money. Clinton understands the power of money. The only question may be; can he be trusted to make good on any promises he made at Wye?

It is being reported that the Israelis want 1.2 billion dollars, and Israeli minister Yaakov Neeman arrived in Washington yesterday. This certainly looks like the Israelis are here to collect some ransom money, for the partial West Bank pullout. Not to be left out, without a hand out, the Palestinians are reportedly asking for a few hundred thousand dollars from us as well ( they probably need it to finish construction on their ' Terrorist International ' airport, that opened in Gaza City ).

The Israelis really do need the money for security devices and bypass roads, as the proposed pullout will leave many Jewish settlements completely surrounded by potentially hostile arabs. I feel sorry for these settlers, as I just don't see armored school buses and automatic weapons, as good exposure for school children. Remember though, the Israelis are used to being surrounded, and they still have Lebanon and Syria to deal with next!

- Bongo ( Time to see just how much Bill's mideast peace photo opportunity and press conference is going to cost us. )