Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords are a pair of interim agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization : the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; and the Oslo II Accord, signed in Taba, Egypt, in 1995. They marked the start of the Oslo process, a peace process aimed at achieving a peace treaty based on Resolution 242 and Resolution 338 of the United Nations Security Council. The Oslo process began after secret negotiations in Oslo, Norway, resulting in both the recognition of Israel by the PLO and the recognition by Israel of the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people and as a partner in bilateral negotiations.
Among the notable outcomes of the Oslo Accords was the creation of the Palestinian Authority, which was tasked with the responsibility of conducting limited Palestinian self-governance over parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip; and the international acknowledgement of the PLO as Israel's partner in permanent-status negotiations about any remaining issues revolving around the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Bilateral dialogue stems from questions related to the international border between Israel and a future Palestinian state: negotiations for this subject are centered around Israeli settlements, the status of Jerusalem, Israel's maintenance of control over security following the establishment of Palestinian autonomy, and the Palestinian right of return. The Oslo Accords did not create a definite Palestinian state.
A large portion of the Palestinian population, including various Palestinian militant groups, staunchly opposed the Oslo Accords; Palestinian-American academic Edward Said described them as a "Palestinian Versailles". The peace process was strained by the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre as well as by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad suicide bombings and attacks. Far-right Israelis also opposed the Oslo Accords, and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995 by a right-wing Israeli extremist for signing them.
Background
The Oslo Accords are based on the 1978 Camp David Accords and show therefore considerable similarity with those Accords. The Camp David's "Framework for Peace in the Middle East" envisioned autonomy for the local, and only for the local, inhabitants of West Bank and Gaza. At the time, there lived some 7,400 settlers in the West Bank, and 500 in Gaza, with the number in the West Bank, however, rapidly growing. As Israel regarded the PLO as a terrorist organisation, it refused to talk with the sole representative of the Palestinian people. Instead, Israel preferred to negotiate with Egypt and Jordan, and "elected representatives of the inhabitants of the West Bank and Gaza".While the final goal in Camp David was a "peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, taking into account the agreement reached in the final status of the West Bank and Gaza", the Oslo negotiations were directly between Israel and the PLO and aimed at a peace treaty directly between these groups. The Oslo Accords, like the 1978 Camp David Accords, merely aimed at an interim agreement that allowed first steps. This was intended to be followed by negotiation of a complete settlement within five years. When, however, an Israel–Jordan peace treaty was concluded on 26 October 1994, it was without the Palestinians.
Negotiation partners
Mutual recognition of sides
Only after Israel's acceptance of the PLO as negotiation partner could serious negotiations start. In their Letters of Mutual Recognition of 9 September 1993, days before the signing of the Oslo I Accord, each party agreed to accept the other as a negotiation partner. The PLO recognized the State of Israel. Israel recognized the PLO as "the representative of the Palestinian people"; no more, no less.Principal participants
Palestine Liberation Organization- Yasser Arafat – PLO leader during the Oslo peace process
- Ahmed Qurei – PLO negotiator during the Oslo peace process
- 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
- 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
During the Second Intifada, the Roadmap for Peace was proposed by the Quartet on the Middle East, and explicitly aimed at a two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. The Roadmap, however, soon entered a cycle similar to the Oslo process, but without producing any agreement.
Outline of the peace plan
Stated goals of the Oslo Accords were among other things, Palestinian interim Self-Government and a permanent settlement of unresolved issues within five years, based on Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. Although the agreements recognize the Palestinian "legitimate and political rights," they remain silent about their fate after the interim period. The Oslo Accords neither define the nature of the post-Oslo Palestinian self-government and its powers and responsibilities, nor do they define the borders of the territory it eventually would govern.A core issue of the Oslo Accords was the withdrawal of the Israeli military from Palestinian territories. The plan was a withdrawal in phases and a simultaneous transfer of responsibilities to the Palestinian authorities for maintaining security. Oslo II, Article X.2 reads:
Further redeployments of Israeli military forces to specified military locations will commence after the inauguration of the Council and will be gradually implemented commensurate with the assumption of responsibility for public order and internal security by the Palestinian Police...And Article XI.2.e:
During the further redeployment phases to be completed within 18 months from the date of the inauguration of the Council, powers and responsibilities relating to territory will be transferred gradually to Palestinian jurisdiction that will cover West Bank and Gaza Strip territory, except for the issues that will be negotiated in the permanent status negotiations.The first phase included the withdrawal from the Areas A and B. Redeployments from Area C would follow in subsequent phases. Article XI.3 states:
"Area C" means areas of the West Bank outside Areas A and B, which, except for the issues that will be negotiated in the permanent status negotiations, will be gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction in accordance with this Agreement.The issues that will be negotiated, according to Article XVII.1, are:
"Jerusalem, settlements, specified military locations, Palestinian refugees, borders, foreign relations and Israelis; and... powers and responsibilities not transferred to the Council."
File:Restricted space in the West Bank, Area C.png|thumb|210px|Area C, controlled by Israel under Oslo Accords, in blue and red, in December 2011
By excluding Jerusalem and the settlements from the areas to be transferred to the Palestinians, Israeli presence, including the military to protect them, would not change without a negotiated agreement. The Accords also preserve Israel's exclusive control of the borders, the airspace and the territorial Gaza waters. Oslo II, Article XII:
In order to guarantee public order and internal security for the Palestinians of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Council shall establish a strong police force as set out in Article XIV below. Israel shall continue to carry the responsibility for defense against external threats, including the responsibility for protecting the Egyptian and Jordanian borders, and for defense against external threats from the sea and from the air, as well as the responsibility for overall security of Israelis and Settlements, for the purpose of safeguarding their internal security and public order, and will have all the powers to take the steps necessary to meet this responsibility.The first step was a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Jericho and transfer of some powers and responsibilities on civil matters to the interim Palestinian Authority. All to agree upon within two months from October 1993.
Then, Israeli troops were to withdraw from populated Palestinian areas to pave the way for Palestinian elections to establish the council. The council would replace the PA, and the Israeli Civil Administration in the West Bank would be dissolved. Further redeployments of Israeli troops would follow upon the inauguration of the council, as detailed in the Protocol, Annex I of the Accord. Article I, 5. of Oslo II reads: "After the inauguration of the Council, the Civil Administration in the West Bank will be dissolved, and the Israeli military government shall be withdrawn...."
Twenty years later, however, the withdrawal of Israeli troops did not take place, and the Civil Administration still has permanent military presence in more than 80% of the West Bank.
Permanent status negotiations about remaining issues would start not later than May 1996 and be concluded before May 1999. A peace treaty would end the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.