The Sharm El Sheikh Memorandum, full name: The Sharm El Sheikh Memorandum on Implementation Timeline of Outstanding Commitments of Agreements Signed and the Resumption of Permanent Status Negotiations was a memorandum signed on September 4, 1999 by

Prime Minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exe ...

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( he-a, אֵהוּד בָּרָק, Ehud_barak.ogg, link=yes, born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli general and politician who served as the tenth prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until Jan ...

and PLO Chairman

Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

at Sharm el Sheikh in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

, overseen by 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

represented by Secretary of State

Madeleine Albright Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democrat ...

. The memorandum was witnessed and co-signed by President

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...

of Egypt and King Abdullah of

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

Purposes

The memorandum's purpose was to implement the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (Oslo II) of September 1995 and to implement all other agreements between the PLO and Israel since September 1993:

Protocol on Economic Relations The Protocol on Economic Relations, also called the Paris Protocol, was an agreement between Israel and the PLO, signed on 29 April 1994, and incorporated with minor amendations into the Oslo II Accord of September 1995. Position in the agreeme ...

(1994); Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area (1994); Washington Declaration (1994);

Agreement on Preparatory Transfer of Powers and Responsibilities Between Israel and the PLO The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993;

(1994); Protocol on Further Transfer of Powers and Responsibilities (1995);

Wye River Memorandum The Wye River Memorandum was an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Palestinian Authority at a summit in Wye River, Maryland, U.S., held from 15–23 October 1998. The Memorandum aimed to resume the implementation of the 1995 Interim ...

(1998). To sum up the memorandum: :''In an effort to break the deadlocked Israel-PA negotiations, the parties met in Sharm El Sheikh in the presence of Secretary Albright, President Mubarak and King Abdullah, and signed an agreement which called for the Israeli withdrawal from a further 11% of the West Bank; the release of 350 Palestinian prisoners; the opening of safe passages between the West Bank and Gaza; and a seaport to be built in Gaza. There was also a timetable for final status talks to deal with Jerusalem, borders, refugees and settlements. A framework agreement on permanent status (FAPS) was to be achieved by February 2000 and permanent agreement by September 2000.'

Redeployments

The two sides agreed to resume Permanent Status negotiations to reach a Permanent Status Agreement. They reaffirmed that negotiations on the Permanent Status would lead to the implementation of Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. Both sides agreed to make a determined effort to conclude a framework agreement and established a timetable to achieve this goal. Israel and Palestine agreed on a number of Israeli redeployments. (Note: Area A - Full control of the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

. Area B - Palestinian civil control,

Israeli military The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...

control. Area C - Full Israeli control.) # On September 5, 1999, to transfer 7% from Area C to Area B. # On November 15, 1999, to transfer 2% from Area B to Area A and 3% from Area C to Area B. # On January 20, 2000, to transfer 1% from Area C to Area A, and 5.1% from Area B to Area A.

Other stipulations

* Various committees to monitor redeployments and the return to civilian life. * Safe passage routes and crossing points. * A high level Joint Liaison Committee, which would convene no later than September 13, 1999 to review the situation in the Tomb of the Patriarchs / ''Al Haram Al Ibrahimi'' The memorandum states that neither side would initiate or take any step that would change the status of the

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 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.. ...

in accordance with the Interim Agreement. This clause recognized the necessity to create an appropriate environment for negotiations, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators also discussed various issues: * Needs for the peaceful and normal functioning of the Gaza sea port and airport. * The release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli military jails. * Anti-terrorism security. Both sides affirmed they would act swiftly against any threat or act of

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 ...

, violence or incitement, whether committed by Palestinians or Israelis. Palestine and Israel also called upon the international donor community to enhance its financial support for the Palestinian economic development and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

References

External links

Full text of the Memorandum

** ttps://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/sharmmap2.html Map for the second Israeli redeployment after the Sharm al-Sheikh Agreement {{Arab–Israeli diplomacy Israeli–Palestinian peace process 1999 in Israel Memoranda Treaties of Israel Treaties of the State of Palestine Treaties concluded in 1999 Yasser Arafat 1999 in the Palestinian territories 1999 in Egypt Conferences in Sharm El Sheikh