June 23, 1992 Yitzhak Rabin, head of Labor Party, elected prime minister in Israel.
Sept. 13, 1993 Rabin and Yasser Arafat sign Oslo Agreement, with President Bill Clinton looking on, at White House.
1993 Accords
Under the guidance of Norwegian Foreign Minister Johan Holst, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization negotiated secretly in Oslo a "Declaration of Principles," signed in Washington on September 13, 1993, by PLO chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.Israel agreed to eventually withdraw troops from Gaza and the West Bank, except for the city of Hebron, and to Palestinian self-rule of those areas.
In accompanying "Letters of Mutual Recognition," Israel recognized the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and the PLO recognized Israel's right to exist. Negotiations between Israel and the PLO today are based on the principles set down in the 1993 accords.
Palestinian borders and Jewish settlementsPalestinians are suspicious of attempts to maintain an Israeli presence in territories occupied in 1967. The Palestinian side has insisted that its state should include all the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel in the war of 1967 -- in other words, Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
The Israelis disagree, saying that Israel's security needs require a presence in strategic parts of the West Bank and that some of the Jewish settlements built during the years of occupation should be incorporated into Israel.A fact-finding committee led by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell recommended on May 21, 2001, that the Israeli government freeze all settlement activity, including the natural growth of existing settlements.
The committee also called on the Palestinian Authority to "make a 100 percent effort to prevent terrorist operations and to punish perpetrators."Israeli viewpointIsrael's settler community, which numbers some 200,000 in the West Bank, as well as its conservative and religious supporters see the territory as part of the biblical land of Israel and have vowed to resist ceding control. The settlements are seen as essential for Israel's security -- as a first line of defense from the east.
The Gaza settlements, while also flash points in the conflict, are less populated, and the land does not carry as much biblical significance for the Israelis. Palestinian viewpoint The Palestinians are suspicious of any attempts to maintain an Israeli presence in territories occupied in 1967.
The territory controlled by the Palestinian Authority is dispersed and intersected by 144 Israeli civilian and military installations, diminishing the viability of that administration's control. The settlements are seen as an instrument of the ongoing occupation, the aim of which is to divide any future Palestinian state into noncontiguous portions.
1993 HANDSHAKE OSLO ACCORDS
A handshake and treaty1993 Secret negotiations near Oslo, Norway, between Israel and the PLO resulted in a treaty that included mutual recognition, limited self-rule for Palestinians in Jericho and Gaza, and provisions for a permanent treaty that would resolve the status of Gaza and the West Bank. Signed in Washington, the agreement was sealed by a historic handshake between Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Rabin, Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts.
1993 OSLO ACCORDS
The Oslo accords are the foundation on which current peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians are based. Officially called the "Declaration of Principles," the accords were negotiated secretly by Israeli and Palestinian delegations in 1993 in Oslo, Norway, guided by Norwegian Foreign Minister Johan Jorgen Holst.
They were signed at a Washington ceremony hosted by U.S. President Bill Clinton on September 13, 1993, during which Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shook hands, ending decades as sworn enemies.
The accords laid out the long-term goals to be achieved, providing that issues of final borders, the status of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements and refugees would be negotiated in the "permanent status negotiations."
On September 28, 1995, at another White House ceremony, Israelis and Palestinians signed another deal known as the "Interim Agreement" or "Oslo 2." The 400-page pact allowed for a second stage of autonomy for the Palestinians, giving them self-rule in the cities of Bethlehem, Jenin, Nablus, Qalqilya, Ramallah, Tulkarm, parts of Hebron and 450 villages, while allowing Israeli-guarded Jewish settlements to remain.
U.S. State Department: Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles
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