Explore the different national interests represented by each delegation

On March 6, 1991, President George H.W. Bush tells Congress, “The time has come to put an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict.” For the next eight months, intensive shuttle diplomacy by Secretary of State James A. Baker III culminates in the Madrid peace conference at the end of October. The conference, co-chaired by Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, is attended by Israeli, Egyptian, Syrian, and Lebanese delegations, as well as a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation. For the first time, all of the parties to the Arab-Israeli conflict have gathered to hold direct negotiations.