OSLO ACCORDS

Agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) negotiated secretly in Oslo, Norway, and signed at the White House on 13 September 1993. These negotiations were begun in February 1993; on 20 August, they resulted in an accord on the provisional autonomy for the Gaza Strip and Jericho ("Gaza-Jericho First" option). The agreement was followed by the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements for the Palestinian Territories. This document was signed in Washington under the sponsorship of the United States and Russia (the former USSR). The signing was the occasion of a historic handshake between Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and the leader of the PLO, Yasir Arafat.

The text of the accord established a schedule of negotiations over a five-year period leading to the establishment of a permanent status for the Palestinian territories. Until then provisional autonomy would exist in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The specified phases were: a) 13 October 1993, transfer of administrative powers from the Israelis to the Palestinians; b) 13 December 1993, beginning of Israeli military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and Jericho, and formation of a Palestinian police force; c) final withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and Jericho; d) 13 July 1994, elections in the territories of a Palestinian council with jurisdiction over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with the exception of East Jerusalem and the Jewish settlements; e) 13 December, 1998 to 13 April 1999, establishment of a definitive and permanent status for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. But in the months that followed, many incidents took place that prevented the application of the measures. Leaders of the Likud party in Israel, such as Ariel Sharon, stated that if they came to power they would not honor the agreement, while violence erupted between Jewish settlers of the Gaza Strip and Palestinian radicals.

On 29 April 1994 in Paris, Israelis and Palestinians signed a protocol on Israeli-Palestinian economic relations. On 4 May in Cairo Prime Minister Rabin and Arafat signed a provisional agreement on the application of autonomy in the Palestinian territories, countersigned by Egyptian president Husni Mubarak, the Russian foreign minister, and the American secretary of state. Six days later the first Palestinian police arrived in the Gaza Strip. On 12 May, after the representatives of the right wing walked out of the Chamber, the Israeli Knesset approved the Cairo Accord by a vote of 55–0. On 13 May the Israeli Army gave the keys of the city of Jericho to the Palestinians, and on 12 July, Arafat arrived in Gaza to set up his headquarters. On 29 August the accord was signed on the transfer by Israel of civil powers to the Palestinians.

SEE ALSO Arafat, Yasir;Gaza Strip;Intifada (1987–1993);Knesset;Mubarak, Husni;Sharon, Ariel;West Bank.