Between Intifadas:

1
Between Intifadas

• Hope and disillusionment, 1993-2001

2
What happened after the 1st Intifada?

• Palestinians Israelis come to the negotiation
  table for the 1st time. Why?
• End of Cold War
• Gulf War
• linkage
• Intifada
• Threatened traditional PLO and Israeli leadership
• Changed power relations between external and
  internal Palestinian activists.
• 1991 Madrid negotiations
• 1993 1995 Oslo Accords

3
The famous handshake Yitzhak Rabin, Bill
Clinton, Yassir Arafat, White House Lawn Sept.
13, 1993
4
Main tenets of the Oslo Accords

• Interim series of steps, NOT a final agreement
• PLO recognizes Israels existence and forswears
  use of violence
• Israel agrees to deal directly with Palestinians
• Israel allows creation of Palestinian National
  Authority (PA) in West Bank and Gaza
• PLO leadership
• Civilian governance shifts mostly to PA
• Total territory transferred to sole Palestinian
  control is 3-4 of the West Bank Gaza.

5
Oslo Accords Land
6
Oslo Accords Control over Land

• Palestinians get some self rule for the 1st time
  in their history, but highly circumscribed.
• Israel retains right to patrol all borders
  control airspace
• Israeli military, Jewish settlers, and Israeli
  citizens retain all rights to enter all
  territories
• Palestinian area divided into more than 100
  enclaves
• Land in the Occupied Territories divided into 3
  zones
• Area A zones full PA civil and security control
• Area B zones PA civil control, Israeli military
  security control
• Area C zones Israeli civil and security control
• Ultimately gave PA control over most of the
  territories population but only over about 5
  of land

7
Source Foundation for Middle East Peace
8
Collapse of the Peace negotiations, 1995-2001

• 1995 Assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak
  Rabin by Israeli assassin
• Bombings within Israel by Palestinian Islamic
  groups, 1994 and especially after 1996
• 1996 Election of more conservative Israeli
  government (Netanyahu)
• Delays in implementation of the Oslo accords
• 2001 end of Oslo Process after election of Ariel
  Sharon

9
What went right at Oslo?

• Showed majority of Israelis and Palestinians were
  willing to negotiate accept partition
• Both sides accepted each others existence
• Renunciation of violence by leaders
• Encouraged new links between Palestinians and
  Israelis
• Created first-ever Palestinian government

10
Underlying causes of collapse of the Oslo Peace
Process

• Frontloading of Israeli benefits backloading
  of Palestinian benefits
• Political instability weakness on both sides
  that gave Oslo rejectionists undue influence
• Coalition weakness in Israel PLO
  authoritarianism in PA
• Jewish settlements and Palestinian bombings
• Failure to take society into consideration
• Absence of Intermediaries