October 30, 1991
The Soviet Union and the United States convene the Madrid Middle East Peace Conference, based on a two-track approach of bilateral and multilateral talks.
All Arab states contiguous to Israel, Palestinians from the territories of the West Bank and Gaza (but not East Jerusalem), and the Gulf Cooperation Council representatives participate in a three-day conference. It is the first time that Israeli and PLO negotiators come together.
At Madrid and afterward, the Palestinians capture media attention with moderate tones. Palestinians in the territories have high expectations that the negotiating process will provide significant political and economic substance to the Palestinians in a short span of time. Israel continues to build settlements during the negotiating process. Contacts from the Madrid Middle East Peace Conference lead to secret PLO-Israeli talks and ultimately to the signing of the September 1993 Oslo Accords.
