HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Oslo I Accord or Oslo I, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or short Declaration of Principles (DOP), was an attempt in 1993 to set up a framework that would lead to the resolution of the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict. It was the first face-to-face agreement between the
government of Israel The Cabinet of Israel (officially: he, ממשלת ישראל ''Memshelet Yisrael'') exercises executive authority in the State of Israel. It consists of ministers who are chosen and led by the prime minister. The composition of the governm ...
and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Negotiations concerning the agreement, an outgrowth of the Madrid Conference of 1991, were conducted secretly in
Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
, hosted by the Fafo institute, and completed on 20 August 1993; the Oslo Accords were subsequently officially signed at a public ceremony in Washington, D.C., on 13 September 1993, in the presence of PLO chairman Yasser Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and U.S. President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...
. The documents themselves were signed by Mahmoud Abbas for the PLO, foreign Minister Shimon Peres for
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher for the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
and foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev for
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
. The Accord provided for the creation of a Palestinian interim self-government, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). The Palestinian Authority would have responsibility for the administration of the territory under its control. The Accords also called for the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from parts of the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza. ...
and
West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
. It was anticipated that this arrangement would last for a five-year interim period during which a permanent agreement would be negotiated (beginning no later than May 1996). Remaining issues such as
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, Palestinian refugees, Israeli settlements,
security" \n\n\nsecurity.txt is a proposed standard for websites' security information that is meant to allow security researchers to easily report security vulnerabilities. The standard prescribes a text file called \"security.txt\" in the well known locat ...
and borders would be part of the "permanent status negotiations" during this period. In August 1993, the delegations had reached an agreement, which was signed in secrecy by Peres while visiting Oslo. In the Letters of Mutual Recognition, the PLO acknowledged the State of Israel and pledged to reject violence, and Israel recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people and as partner in negotiations. Yasser Arafat was allowed to return to the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In 1995, the Oslo I Accord was followed by Oslo II.


Principles of the Accords

In essence, the accords called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from parts of the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza. ...
and
West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
, and affirmed a Palestinian right of self-government within those areas through the creation of a Palestinian Interim Self-Government Authority. Palestinian rule was to last for a five-year interim period during which "permanent status negotiations" would commence in order to reach a final agreement. The negotiations would cover major issues such as
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, Palestinian refugees, Israeli settlements, and security and borders were to be decided at these permanent status negotiations (Article V). Israel was to grant interim self-government to the Palestinians in phases. Along with the principles, the two groups signed Letters of Mutual Recognition—the Israeli government recognized the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, while the PLO recognized the right of the state of Israel to exist and renounced
terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
as well as other violence, and its desire for the destruction of the Israeli state. The aim of Israeli–Palestinian negotiations was to establish a Palestinian Interim Self-Government Authority, an elected Council, for the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, for a transitional period not exceeding five years, leading to a permanent settlement based on UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, an integral part of the whole peace process. In order that the Palestinians govern themselves according to
democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
principles, free and general political elections would be held for the council. Jurisdiction of the Palestinian Council would cover the West Bank and Gaza Strip, except for issues that would be finalized in the permanent status negotiations. The two sides viewed the West Bank and Gaza as a single territorial unit. The permanent status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians would start "not later than the beginning of the third year of the interim period"; the interim period would "begin upon the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and Jericho area".''Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements''
(DOP), 13 September 1993. From the Knesset website
Article V: 1. The five-year transitional period will begin upon the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and Jericho area.; 2. Permanent status negotiations will commence as soon as possible, but not later than the beginning of the third year of the interim period, between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian people representatives.
That withdrawal began with the signing of the Gaza–Jericho Agreement on 4 May 1994,''Mideast accord: the overview; Rabin and Arafat sign accord ending Israel's 27-year hold on Jericho and the Gaza Strip''
Chris Hedges, New York Times, 5 May 1994.
"Israel and the P.L.O. signed an agreement today that formally begins Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the Jericho area of the West Bank – lands occupied for 27 years – and grants Palestinians a measure of self-government for the first time, though not sovereignty."
Quote of Yitzhak Rabin: "We do not accept the Palestinian goal of an independent Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan. We believe there is a separate Palestinian entity short of a state."
thus the interim period would end on 4 May 1999.''4 May 1999 and Palestinian Statehood: To Declare or Not to Declare?''
Azmi Bishara, Journal of Palestine Studies Vol. 28, No. 2 (Winter, 1999), pp. 5–16
The five-year transitional period would commence with Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and Jericho area. There would be a transfer of authority from the Israel Defense Forces to the authorized Palestinians, concerning education and culture, health, social welfare, direct
taxation A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, o ...
, and tourism. The council would establish a strong police force, while Israel would continue to carry the responsibility for defending against external threats. An Israeli–Palestinian Economic Cooperation Committee would be established in order to develop and implement in a cooperative manner the programs identified in the protocols. The Declaration of Principles would enter into force one month after its signing. All protocols annexed to the Declaration of Principles and the Agreed Minutes pertaining to it were to be regarded as a part of it.


Content of the Oslo I Accord


Main articles

The Oslo I Accord contains 17 articles.


Annexes

The Oslo I Accord contains four annexes:


Annex 1: Conditions of Palestinian Elections

This annex covered
election agreement An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
s, a system of
election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
s, rules and regulations regarding election campaigns, including agreed arrangements for the organizing of
mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit informatio ...
, and the possibility of licensing a TV station.


Annex 2: Withdrawal of Israeli forces

An agreement on the withdrawal of Israeli military forces from the Gaza Strip and Jericho area. This agreement will include comprehensive arrangements to apply in the Gaza Strip and the Jericho area subsequent to the Israeli withdrawal. Internal security and public order by the Palestinian police force consisting of police officers recruited locally and from abroad (holding Jordanian passports and Palestinian documents issued by
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
). Those who will participate in the Palestinian police force coming from abroad should be trained as police and police officers. * A temporary international or foreign presence, as agreed upon. * Establishment of a joint Palestinian–Israeli Coordination and Cooperation Committee for mutual security purposes. * Arrangements for a safe passage for persons and transportation between the Gaza Strip and Jericho area. * Arrangements for coordination between both parties regarding passages: Gaza–Egypt; and Jericho–Jordan.


Annex 3: Economic cooperation

The two sides agree to establish an Israeli–Palestinian continuing Committee for economic cooperation, focusing, among other things, on the following: * Cooperation in the field of water * Cooperation in the field of electricity * Cooperation in the field of energy * Cooperation in the field of finance * Cooperation in the field of transport and communications * Cooperation in the field of trade and commerce * Cooperation in the field of industry * Cooperation in, and regulation of, labor relations * Cooperation in social welfare issues * An environmental protection plan * Cooperation in the field of communication and media


Annex 4: Regional development

The two sides will cooperate in the context of the multilateral peace efforts in promoting a Development Program for the region, including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, to be initiated by the G7 countries.


Agreed Minutes

The Oslo I Accord contains some explanations of a number of articles in the Accord, with understandings the parties had agreed on:


General understandings

Any powers and responsibilities transferred to the Palestinians through the Declaration of Principles prior to the inauguration of the council will be subject to the same principles pertaining to Article IV, as set out in the agreed minutes below.


Specific understandings

;Article IV: Council's jurisdiction It was to be understood that: Jurisdiction of the council would cover West Bank and Gaza Strip territory, except for issues that would be negotiated in the permanent status negotiations. ;Article V: Permanent status negotiations issues It was understood that several issues were postponed to permanent status negotiations, including: Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, security arrangements, borders, relations and co-operation with other neighbours, and other issues of common interest. The outcome of these permanent status negotiations should not be prejudiced or pre-empted by the parties. ;Article VI (2): Transferring authority It was agreed that the transfer of authority would be as follows: The Palestinians would inform the Israelis of the names of the authorized Palestinians who would assume the powers, authorities and responsibilities that would be transferred to the Palestinians according to the Declaration of Principles in the following fields: education and culture, health, social welfare, direct taxation, tourism, and any other authorities agreed upon. ;Article VII (2): Cooperation The Interim Agreement would also include arrangements for coordination and cooperation. ;Article VII (5): Israel's powers The withdrawal of the military government would not prevent Israel from exercising the powers and responsibilities not transferred to the council. ;Article VIII: Police It was understood that the Interim Agreement would include arrangements for cooperation and coordination. It was also agreed that the transfer of powers and responsibilities to the Palestinian police would be accomplished in a phased manner. The accord stipulated that Israeli and Palestinian police would do joint patrols. ;Article X: Designating officials It was agreed that the Israeli and Palestinian delegations would exchange the names of the individuals designated by them as members of the Joint Israeli–Palestinian Liaison Committee which would reach decisions by agreement. ;Article XI: Israel's continuing responsibilities It was understood that, subsequent to the Israeli withdrawal, Israel would continue to be responsible for external security, and for internal security and public order of settlements and
Israelis Israelis ( he, יִשְׂרָאֵלִים‎, translit=Yīśrāʾēlīm; ar, الإسرائيليين, translit=al-ʾIsrāʾīliyyin) are the citizens and nationals of the State of Israel. The country's populace is composed primarily of Jew ...
. Israeli military forces and civilians would be allowed to continue using roads freely within the Gaza Strip and the Jericho area.


Reaction

In Israel, a strong debate over the accords took place; the left wing supported them, while the right wing opposed them. After a two-day discussion in the
Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...
on the government proclamation in the issue of the accord and the exchange of the letters, on 23 September 1993, a vote of confidence was held in which 61 Knesset members voted for the decision, 50 voted against and 8 abstained. Palestinian reactions were also divided. Fatah, the group that represented the Palestinians in the negotiations, accepted the accords. But Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine objected to the accords. On both sides, there were fears of the other side's intentions. Israelis suspected that the Palestinians were entering into a tactical peace agreement, and that they were not sincere about wanting to reach peace and coexistence with Israel. They saw it as part of the PLO's Ten Point Program which calls for a national authority "over every part of Palestinian territory that is liberated" until "the liberation of all Palestinian territory" and understood it as an attempt to justify the signing of the accords as a step to reach a final goal. Jerusalem's new mayor and later Prime Minister Ehud Olmert opposed the agreement and called it a "dark cloud over the city". He favored to bring more Jews to East Jerusalem and expand Jerusalem to the east.Jerusalem's ''New Mayor Adopts Begin-Shamir Settlement Policies'' . FMEP, Settlement Report "> Vol. 4 No. 2 , March–April 1994 On 13 September 1993 the Lebanese Army
opened fire on an anti-Oslo demonstration in south Beirut organised by Hizbollah killing nine people and wounding thirty. Many Palestinians feared that Israel was not serious about dismantling their settlements in the West Bank, especially around Jerusalem. They feared they might even accelerate their settlement program in the long run, by building more settlements and expanding existing ones.


Nobel Peace Prize

In 1994 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat received the Nobel Peace Prize following the signing on the Oslo Accords, "for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East". The Accords, however, never resulted in peace.


Remarks from Benjamin Netanyahu

In a 2001 video, Netanyahu, reportedly unaware he was being recorded, said: "They asked me before the election if I'd honor he Oslo accords.. I said I would, but hatI'm going to interpret the accords in such a way that would allow me to put an end to this galloping forward to the '67 borders. How did we do it? Nobody said what defined military zones were. Defined military zones are security zones; as far as I'm concerned, the entire Jordan Valley is a defined military zone. Go argue." Netanyahu then explained how he conditioned his signing of the 1997 Hebron agreement on American consent that there be no withdrawals from "specified military locations", and insisted he be allowed to specify which areas constituted a "military location"—such as the whole of the Jordan Valley. "Why is that important? Because from that moment on I stopped the Oslo Accords", Netanyahu affirmed. However, this is clearly consistent with Yitzhak Rabin's October 1995 statement to the Knesset on the ratification of the interim Oslo agreement: "B. The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term."


Additional agreements

In addition to the first accord, the parties concluded: *The Gaza–Jericho Agreement or Cairo Agreement, signed on 4 May 1994, which initiated a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza Strip and Jericho area, and the establishment of the Palestinian Authority *The Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (also known as Oslo 2), signed on 28 September 1995 gave Palestinians self-rule in
Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital ...
,
Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies Above mean sea level, above sea level. The second-lar ...
, Jenin, Nablus,
Qalqilya Qalqilya or Qalqiliya ( ar, قلقيلية, Qalqīlyaḧ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank which serves as the administrative center of the Qalqilya Governorate of the State of Palestine. In the 2007 census, the city had a population of 41 ...
, Ramallah, Tulkarm, and some 450 villages. After 1995, a number of additional agreements were concluded to implement the Oslo Accords.


Consequences of the accord

In 2013 the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation stated, "The Oslo Accord divided the
metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big c ...
of
Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies Above mean sea level, above sea level. The second-lar ...
—in two. In a small, fortified area of its old city quarters—a small group of Israeli settlers reside, surrounded by more than 120,000 Palestinians".


See also

* Economic Cooperation Foundation Issues * Proposals for a Palestinian state * United States security assistance to the Palestinian Authority People * Ahmed Qurei alias Abu Ala—PLO negotiator during the Oslo peace process * Yossi Beilin—Israeli negotiator during the Oslo peace process * Jan Egeland—Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, provided political cover, facilities and finances for the negotiations * Yair Hirschfeld—Israeli negotiator during the Oslo peace process * Johan Jørgen Holst—Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs * Mona Juul—Norwegian facilitator during the negotiations * Ron Pundak—formed first Israeli negotiating team with Hirschfeld, before official Israeli involvement * Uri Savir—former Director General of the
Israeli Foreign Ministry The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( he, מִשְׂרַד הַחוּץ, translit. ''Misrad HaHutz''; ar, وزارة الخارجية الإسرائيلية) is one of the most important ministries in the Israeli government. The ministry's r ...
, was Head of the Israeli negotiating team


References


Bibliography

*
Bregman, Ahron Ahron "Ronnie" Bregman ( he, אהרון ברגמן, born 1958) is a UK-based political scientist of Israeli origin, as well as a writer and journalist, specialising on the Arab–Israeli conflict. Biography Bregman was born and raised in Israel ...
''Elusive Peace: How the Holy Land Defeated America''. *Clinton, Bill (2005). ''My Life''. Vintage. . *Eran, Oded. "Arab–Israel Peacemaking". ''The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East''. Ed. Avraham Sela. New York: Continuum, 2002.


External links

* *
Dean Peter Krogh Examines Prospects for Peace
from th
Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives
Knesset website, 28 December 1977 {{Bill Clinton Israeli–Palestinian peace process 1993 in Norway 1993 in Israel 1993 in the Israeli Civil Administration area Treaties of Israel Treaties of the State of Palestine Treaties concluded in 1993 Yitzhak Rabin Yasser Arafat Israel–United States relations State of Palestine–United States relations 1990s in Oslo Events in Oslo Articles containing video clips