Oslo Accords

The Oslo Accords were two important agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. The first agreement, called Oslo I, was signed in Washington, D.C. in 1993. The second, Oslo II, was signed in Taba, Egypt in 1995. These agreements started what is known as the Oslo process, a plan to work toward peace between Israel and the Palestinian people.

One big result of the Oslo Accords was the creation of the Palestinian Authority. This group was given the job of helping to govern parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The agreements also led to the Palestine Liberation Organization being recognized by Israel as the group that speaks for the Palestinian people.

Not everyone supported the Oslo Accords. Some Palestinian militant groups and some Far-right Israelis did not agree with them. Sadly, the peace process faced many challenges, including violent events. Even the Israeli prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, who helped sign the agreements, was assassinated in 1995 by someone who strongly opposed the peace efforts.

Background

The Oslo Accords were an important step toward peace between Israel and the Palestinian people. They started after secret talks in Oslo, Norway. These agreements were based on earlier talks from 1978 called the Camp David Accords.

The Oslo Accords aimed to make peace directly between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which represents the Palestinian people. Unlike earlier talks, these agreements were meant to be a first step toward a full peace treaty, with more talks planned for the future. However, a separate peace treaty between Israel and Jordan happened in 1994 without including the Palestinians.

Negotiation partners

Mutual recognition of sides

Before serious talks could begin, Israel needed to agree to talk with the PLO. On September 9, 1993, just days before the Oslo I Accord was signed, both sides agreed to recognize each other. The PLO recognized the State of Israel. Israel recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people.

Principal participants

Palestine Liberation Organization

• Yasser Arafat – PLO leader during the Oslo peace process
• Ahmed Qurei (a.k.a. Abu Ala) – PLO negotiator during the Oslo peace process

Israel

• Yossi Beilin – Israeli negotiator during the Oslo peace process
• Yair Hirschfeld – Israeli negotiator during the Oslo peace process
• Shimon Peres – Israeli Foreign Minister during the Oslo peace process
• Ron Pundak – formed first Israeli negotiating team with Hirschfeld, before official Israeli involvement
• Yitzhak Rabin – Israeli Prime Minister during the Oslo peace process
• Uri Savir – former Director General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, head of the Israeli negotiating team
• Joel Singer - Israeli lawyer and legal adviser for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Norway (facilitating)

• Jan Egeland – Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, provided political cover, facilities and finances for the negotiations
• Johan Jørgen Holst – Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Terje Rød-Larsen – Norwegian facilitator during the negotiations
• Mona Juul – Norwegian facilitator during the negotiations

The Oslo process

The Oslo process began in 1993 with secret talks between Israel and the PLO. These talks led to a series of agreements aimed at creating peace. The process included many rounds of discussions, pauses, and restarts. It ended in 2000 after talks at Camp David failed and a period of conflict called the Second Intifada began.

The goals of these agreements were to help Palestinians govern themselves for a time and to solve big issues within five years. The plans talked about moving Israeli soldiers out of some areas and letting Palestinian authorities take over security in those places. However, some important issues like Jerusalem were not included in these early steps. Even after many years, not all the planned steps were completed, and peace talks continued.

Palestinian Authority and Legislative Council

See also: International aid to Palestinians

When the Oslo I Accord was signed in 1993, there was no government or parliament for the Palestinian territories. The Palestinian Authority was created by the 1994 Gaza–Jericho Agreement. This Authority was given some powers and responsibilities by Israel.

The first elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council were held on 20 January 1996. The governments elected kept the name "Palestinian National Authority."

The Oslo Accords also talked about economic help and cooperation. After the accords were signed, a conference was held to support the new Palestinian Authority. Many countries and groups provided aid to help with development, stability, and protecting rights in the region.

Transitional period

The Transitional Period, also called the interim period, was a time between important agreements for the Palestinians and Israel. It started after Israel left areas like Gaza and Jericho. During this time, the Palestinians set up their own government.

The period lasted five years, ending on May 4, 1999. Talks about a lasting peace agreement were meant to start before the end of the third year of this period. These talks would cover big topics like the city of Jerusalem, refugees, and borders. Both sides agreed not to make any final decisions about these big topics during the interim period.

End of the interim period

In May 1999, the five-year period set by the agreements ended without a full peace deal being reached. Both sides had agreed to create a Palestinian Authority to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza for a short time, leading to a final agreement based on United Nations rules.

Even though the main goal wasn’t met, some parts of the agreements stayed. The Palestinian Authority became a lasting group, and the West Bank was split into different areas. One big area, called Area C, is mostly under Israeli control. The group handling daily matters in these areas, called COGAT, is still active. Meetings about sharing water between the two sides also continue.

Later, in the year 2000, the United States tried to restart talks, but after these talks failed, fighting began again and progress stopped.

Security control

After the Gaza–Jericho Agreement and before the first elections for the Palestinian Authority, Israel left Jericho and most of the Gaza Strip in 1994. In January 1997, Israel left 80% of Hebron, as agreed in the Hebron Protocol. But talks stopped, and more steps to pull back did not happen. By March 1998, no more areas had been left. In October 1998, both sides signed the Wye River Memorandum, agreeing to continue these steps, but only the first step was done.

The Oslo Accords started a partnership between Israel and the Palestinian Authority to help keep things safe. This began in 1996. After some troubles, they stopped working together for a while, but started again. During a later difficult time, working together stopped again, but later it helped both sides stay safe. In May 2020, when Israel talked about taking more land, the Palestinian Authority stopped this partnership. But after an agreement with another country, they started working together again.

After an Israeli military action in January 2023, the Palestinian Authority stopped the safety partnership again. U.S. leaders asked them to restart it, but there were disagreements on what needed to be done.

Aftermath

After the Oslo Accords were signed, there were some difficult times. In 1994, a person killed many people, and this led to more violence from both sides. Some people tried to stop the peace process by doing harmful actions.

Even though the Oslo Accords said that the status of certain areas should not change until later talks, Israel continued to build more settlements where Jewish people could live. This made many Palestinians very unhappy because it made it harder for them to move around and affected their economy.

During this time, Palestinians got a little more control in some areas, but Israel still kept strong control over many parts, including important roads and entry points. This made travel between different areas very difficult and separated the Gaza Strip from the West Bank.

Reception

While some leaders tried to slow down building in places where Israelis and Palestinians lived close together, others kept building more homes. Even so, the number of new homes built after these peace talks was much lower than before.

Some people thought these peace talks made things worse instead of better. They said the talks gave safety to Israelis but not to Palestinians and didn’t help Palestinians have their own country. Others felt that important problems, like where borders should be and what would happen to people who had to leave their homes, were put off and not talked about right away. Some also thought that Norway, which helped with the talks, may not have done everything fairly.

Alternatives to the Oslo Accords

Although the Oslo Accords did not directly support a two-state solution, they set up self-governing Palestinian groups in the West Bank and Gaza. Because of this, some people think the agreements were a step toward having two separate countries in the future.

Some experts believe that instead of two states, there could be one state that includes both Israel and the Palestinian areas. They think this might work because it would use existing groups and organizations. Others worry that this could lead to unfair treatment of Palestinians, with Israel keeping more power.