The Oslo Accords were bilateral agreements signed in Washington following negotiations, part of which was clandestine, between Israel and the PLO. The signed agreement in 1993 was entitled the “Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements.” Its main concern was on Israeli withdrawal from the territories of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, in order to allow the establishment of a Palestinian Authority for self-government for an interim period until permanent arrangements would be established. From its early stages, both […]
The Gaza disengagement plan The Gaza disengagement plan was initiated by the Israeli government in August 2005. The plan incorporated the dismantling of Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, removing Israeli settlers from the territory into Israel, and withdrawing Israeli armed forces. Four settlements in the West Bank were also evacuated. The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush supported Israel’s withdrawal in the belief that it would move the peace process forward. The plan was adopted by the government […]
Intifada” means “shaking up” or “shaking off,” and is the term applied to the uprisings against Israel in modern times. Though the term is used in other countries to refer to uprisings against the ruling government, the word has special significance in Israel. Israel’s First Intifada lasted from 1987 until 1991, finally dying off with the onset of the Gulf War. Though the Palestinians and Israelis had managed to live in relative peace for years with Palestinians entering Israel each […]
The Israeli–Palestinian Peace Process Timeline 1967 – UN Security Council Resolution 242 1973 – UN Security Council Resolution 338 1974 – Separation of Forces Agreement: Israel and Egypt 1975 – Interim Agreement between Israel and Egypt 1977 – Israel's Self-Rule Plan 1978 – Camp David Accords 1979 – Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty 1979 – Israel-US Memorandum Agreement (Part I) 1979 – Israel-US Memorandum Agreement (Part II) 1980 – Venice Declaration 1982 – Israeli proposal for self-governing authority in the West Bank […]
Palestinian Statehood The creation of an independent Palestine, side by side with Israel, is broadly supported internationally, formally backed by successive U.S. administrations, and enjoys popular support in Israel, according to polling data. Yet efforts by Palestinian authorities to gain statehood recognition at the UN have generated controversy. Following a failed bid to achieve full UN membership in 2011, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas managed to successfully push through a bid for formal recognition of non-member state status for […]
Why do the Palestinians refuse a negotiated peace? A negotiated peace means the end of the conflict, or at least promising to end the conflict and accept the very existence of Israel. But the Palestinian leadership wants a state so that they can continue the conflict from a stronger position. In particular, they want a state and they want to keep pressing in every way for the “right of return” to Israel. But Israel would not agree to that in […]
History's legacy created divisive issues between Palestinians and Israelis. Judea, home of the Jews in ancient times, was conquered by the Romans and renamed Palestine. Palestine was later conquered and inhabited by Arabs for over a thousand years. The Zionist movement arose to restore the Jews to Israel, largely ignoring the existing Arab population. Following the Balfour Declaration in 1917, Palestine was granted to Britain as a League of Nations mandate to build a national home for the Jewish people. […]
On June 24, 2002, President George W. Bush laid out a vision for a peaceful future between Israel and the Arab states, focusing especially on steps toward the creation of a provisional Palestinian state in three years. The plan also called for Israel to take certain measures to facilitate the creation of a Palestinian state, but only after the Palestinians replace Yasser Arafat as their leader, reform their institutions and end terrorism. The plan also called on the Arab states […]
On Saturday, December 27, 2008, the Israel Defense Forces launched an airstrike against Hamas terrorist cells in the Gaza Strip. This was the beginning of operation “Cast Lead”. Operation Cast Lead came after three years of Israel suffering thousands of daily Palestinian rocket attacks on its southern cities. Since the start of the operation, Hamas increased their number of attacks and had fired hundreds of rockets into Israel. Hamas fired an average of 80 rockets into Israel each day. Rockets […]
The Camp David Accords put an end to a 30 year conflict between Israel and Egypt and led to a peace treaty between the two countries that fought against each other in 4 wars. The Camp David Accords were the result of 18 months of intense diplomatic efforts by Egypt, Israel, and the United States that began after Jimmy Carter became President. Efforts initially focused on a comprehensive resolution of disputes between Israel and the Arab countries but gradually evolved […]