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The Oslo Accords, the first direct agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, emerged from secret negotiations after the 1991 Madrid Middle East Peace Conference; established the self-governing Palestinian Authority for parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip; staggered after the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995; and collapsed as a pathway to peace when the Second Intifada broke out in 2000.

The Key Curated Essentials for Arab-Israeli Negotiations, 1992-1999

Israel-PLO Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA), September 9, 1993

On September 9, 1993, four days before Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin signed the Oslo Accords on the White House Lawn, Israel and the PLO signed mutual recognition Letters. Joel Singer, who significantly assisted the negotiation of both the MRA and the Oslo Accords, as well as earlier agreements with Egypt, recalled that the MRA was “a massive leap forward in Israeli-Palestinian relations.”

Issues and Analyses|September 9, 1993

Israeli-Jordanian Treaty Excerpts, 1994

Jordan becomes the second Arab country after Egypt (1979) to sign a peace treaty ending the state of war with Israel. The Treaty addresses boundary demarcations, water sharing, police and security cooperation, environmental issues, border crossings, administration of Muslim holy sites and other issues.

Documents and Sources|October 26, 1994

How Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin Viewed the 1993 Oslo Accords — A Collection in His Own Words

In September 2023, thirty years after the historic signing of the Oslo Accords, there is occasion to review Prime Minister Rabin’s understanding of them. I assembled this collection years ago from Daily Reports- Near East and South Asia, 1993-1995. Two short items about Rabin’s views are also found or linked here. Rabin provided a summary of his views of the Accords in a Knesset speech in October 5, 1995. Some of Rabin’s reasons for signing the Accords are also provided in Yehuda Avner’s The Prime Ministers.

Documents and Sources, Ken's Blog|September 1993-November 1995

The Arab-Israeli Peace Process, 1999

Kenneth W. Stein, “The Arab-Israeli Peace Process,” Middle East Contemporary Survey, Vol. XXIII, 2000, Bruce Maddy-Weitzman (ed.), Westview Press, pp. 48-76. For some aspects of Arab-Israeli relations and negotiations, the beginning and end of 1999…

More Curated Essentials for Arab-Israeli Negotiations, 1992-1999

London Document: Jordan-Israel Agreement on International Peace Conference, 1987

April 7, 1987
In Aprili 1987, the Jordanian King and Israeli Labor Party leaders secretly outlined a plan to convene an international conference to move Israeli-Palestinian talks forward through a conference format, but Likud opposition leaders in Israel squashed the idea.

Jordanian King Hussein on the Hashemite Kingdom’s Separation From West Bank

July 28, 1988
Jordan's King Hussein made a strategic decision to disassociate administratively from the West Bank, leaving it to focus Jordanian national identity on only the east bank of the Jordan River. The PLO subsequently negotiated with Israel to rule over some of these lands, as codified in the 1993 Oslo Accords, but no Palestinian state was promised.

Yitzhak Rabin’s Reasons for Signing the 1993 Oslo Accords, Explained in 1995

November 1, 1995
November 1, 1995 Three days before he was assassinated Nov. 4, 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin told his speechwriter Yehuda Avner why he recognized the PLO and Yasser Arafat. That recognition came in the exchange...

Sept. 23, 1993: Peres’ Remarks to Knesset on Oslo Accords, Gaza Strip

September 23, 1993
FM Peres supports the Oslo Accords, opposes a Palestinian state and rejects Israel's role in the Gaza Strip as enforcer of security; his considerations have relevance for the Gaza Strip in 2024.

Rabin: TV Interview 3 Days Before Assassination

November 1, 1995
(November 1, 1995) Interview with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by anchorman Ehud Yaari, Kol Yisra’el party affairs correspondent Yaron Dekel, and YEDI’OT AHARONOT political correspondent Shimon Schiffer

25 Years Since Oslo: An Insider’s Account

September 2018
When a leader of one country considers whether the time is ripe to commence peace negotiations with the leader of an enemy, there are two important questions that the leader must consider: Is the other leader willing to make the sacrifices necessary to attain peace? Is that leader strong enough to make those sacrifices and enforce the deal internally, that is, is he capable? The answer to both of these questions must be ‘yes.’ A willing but incapable leader is as bad for reaching a peace treaty as a capable but unwilling leader.

30 Years Since Oslo: Curated Readings, September 2023

September 18, 2023
This initial Oslo reading compilation was collected in 2018, to recall Oslo 25 years later; it was updated in September 2023. The compilation is of course not inclusive. An effort was made to include items that...

Wye River Memorandum on Unilateral Actions, Security and Other Matters Between Israel and PA, 1998

October 23, 1998
With Israeli-Palestinian talks in a hapless state, President Clinton rejuvenates them. In the Arafat-Netanyahu agreement Israel shares Hebron, with the CIA playing a role in West Bank security.