While Wisse said she is chiefly worried about the agreement's effect on Israel, Graham said he is most upset over violations of human rights on the Palestinian side in the wake of the talks.
"The Palestinian Authority will now crack down even harder on so-called terrorists, which means they'll end up cracking down on people who have nothing to do with terrorism," Graham said, referring to Arafat's commitment to check the violently anti-Israel forces in his polity.
"There is every evidence that in the wake of Wye, there has been a series of further land seizures by settlers and every indication that the Palestinian Authority has been arresting people right and left with little regard for innocence and guilt," he added.
The Role of the U.S.
As part of the Wye agreement, President Clinton committed the Central Intelligence Agency to monitoring Palestinian efforts to contain terrorism. Harvard professors offered varying takes on America's assumption of this responsibility.
"The U.S. government possibly has a positive role to play in verifying whether the parties have fulfilled their obligations under the agreement," Mendelsohn said.
But Mendelsohn warned against investing too much confidence in U.S. arbitration of the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians.
"U.S. agencies had been involved in defining security arrangements during the past year and a half that were agreed upon by both sides, and the latest one was turned down by the Israeli [prime minister]," he said.
While Mendelsohn accused Netanyahu of waffling, Wisse criticized the prime minister for granting the U.S. the role of "guarantor" in its negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.
"It seems that Israel is going into political receivership on that count," Wisse said. "If you ask someone else to be the guarantor of your security, then basically you're going into political receivership."
The Weight of the Past
The professors were also grim about the future of the Middle East.
Wisse said the history of bloodshed and bitterness between Israel and the Palestinians will be difficult to overcome.
"The Arab war against Israel is now in its 50th year, and it hasn't ceased or shown signs of losing momentum," she said.
Although the Wye agreement included significant land and counterterrorism commitments, it did not extend to the most contentious questions dividing Israel and the Palestinian Authority--such as the future of Jerusalem.
Mendelsohn said he does not believe the current Israeli administration is capable of conducting talks on these final status issues.
"At best, the Netanyahu government might begin the process, but this government's ability to successfully conduct final status negotiations is not adequate to the task," Mendelsohn said.
Graham said the Wye deal contributed little to any overall resolution of the divide between Israel and the Palestinians.
"The agreement itself constitutes a very small step with respect to a very large problem," he said.