Several Harvard professors are pessimistic about the chance for peace in the Middle East--despite the signing of the Wye River Memorandum on October 23.

The latest agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority contains few new commitments, but rather fresh promises to honor old concessions on both sides.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to allow the Palestinians full control over 13 percent of the West Bank and to release 750 convicted Palestinian prisoners.

Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority will arrest 30 Palestinians suspected of murder, reduce its police force of 40,000 to the previously agreed-upon limit of 30,000 and rescind the 26 clauses in the Palestinian National Covenant that call for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Professors' opinions ranged from skepticism about the potential for peace to disappointment with the leaders over particular concessions.

Doubts About Progress

"The agreement is the absolute minimum that was necessary," said Professor of the History of Science Everett I. Mendelsohn, who is also an affiliate of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies.

"It comes late and after a great deal of breakdown of communication," he added.

Professor of the History of Religion and Islamic Studies William A. Graham echoed Mendelsohn, saying his reaction to the Wye agreement was "largely disappointment."

"I'm happy an agreement was reached but I have very little optimism that it's going to produce a just settlement," Graham said.

Professor of Yiddish Literature and of Comparative Literature Ruth R. Wisse offered a similarly negative prognosis for peace.

"I'm quite sure there won't be any progress [in the wake of Wye]," she said.

Wisse expressed doubts about the formula thus far engaged by Netanyahu of ceding territory in exchange for promises of peace from the Palestinians.

"Peace will come to the Middle East when the Arabs learn to yield land and the Jews learn how to hold onto it," Wisse said.

"I don't think that Israel can solve the problem of the Palestinians--not with any amount of land," she added.

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.