The White House Signing of the Oslo Accords on Middle East Peace: Signed by All the Signers of the Accords and the Lead Participants, a Unique Document with no Equal

The only surviving relic of this event to feature the signatures of all the primary signers and leaders in the accord: American, Jewish, Palestinian, and Russian

 

“It is time to put an end to decades of confrontation and conflict”

 

Signed September 13, 1993 at the White House:

Bill Clinton – President

Yasser Arafat – PLO

Yitzhak Rabin – Prime Minister, Israel

Warren Christopher- US Secretary of State

Shimon Peres – Foreign Affairs Minister, Israel

Mahmoud Abbas – PLO

Andrei Kozyrev – Russian Foreign Minister

The United States Government believed that the political changes in the Middle East by 1991 presented an opportunity to advance the Arab-Israeli peace process. To implement this goal, it co-sponsored the Madrid Conference with the Soviet Union. This was convened on October 30, 1991, and was attended by its two sponsors as well as the governments of Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation, and representatives of the European Community. The goals of the conference were to launch bilateral peace talks between Israel and bordering Arab states; multilateral talks on key regional issues like refugees; and talks between Israelis and non-PLO Palestinians on 5-year interim self-rule, to be followed by talks on permanent status issues. Although the Madrid Conference did not produce any final settlements, it helped set the stage for the Oslo Accords.

The Oslo negotiations were set in motion in January 1993 by Terje Larsen, a Norwegian sociologist, and Yossi Beilin, a member of Israel’s Labor Party government that had come to power in 1992. The two agreed that for peace to occur, direct talks between Israel and the PLO were necessary. Because Israeli law banned contacts between Israelis and PLO officials, Larsen and Beilin established a secret, unofficial backchannel between two Israeli professors and a team of three PLO officials led by Abu Ala. The first meetings were held on January 20-22, 1993 near Oslo at the home of Norwegian Minister of Defense (after April 1993, Minister of Foreign Affairs) Jorgen Holst and his wife. The Oslo talks sought to draft a document of principles to guide Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking, and the strict secrecy allowed the negotiators to discuss scenarios and potential concessions without incurring domestic political costs. An important step forward occurred in May 1993, when Israel elevated the talks to an official level by sending Deputy Foreign Minister Uri Savir to Oslo.

In August 1993, the Israeli and Palestinian chief negotiators initialed the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (DOP) in Oslo.

The Oslo Accords at the White House: September 13, 1993. President Bill Clinton subsequently hosted a formal signing ceremony in Washington on September 13, 1993, at which Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat shook hands.

The ceremony began with President Bill Clinton speaking about the historic agreement being signed between the Israelis and the Palestinians. After Clinton spoke, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres of Israel and Mahmoud Abbas, PLO Executive Committee member, make brief remarks. Then Foreign Minister Peres and Mr. Abbas signed the declaration, and Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Foreign Minister Andrey Kozyrev of Russia signed as witnesses. Secretary Christopher and Foreign Minister Kozyrev then made remarks, followed by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and Chairman Yasser Arafat of the PLO.

The Oslo Accords were a milestone in Israeli-Palestinian relations, aimed at propelling the peace process forward and providing for the expansion of Palestinian self-rule throughout most of the West Bank. Along with the DOP, the agreement included Letters of Mutual Recognition in which the PLO recognized the existence of the State of Israel and Israel recognized the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Under the DOP, Israel committed itself to withdrawing from parts of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and acknowledged the Palestinian right to self government in those territories under a Palestinian Authority. During a 5-year interim period, a permanent peace settlement would be negotiated. The DOP went into force one month after it was signed. Two months later, Israel and the PLO agreed on withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and Jericho (but not on the question of Israeli settlements).

Although the peacemaking efforts launched by the Oslo Accords did not produce a permanent agreement, the Oslo agreements achieved several breakthroughs. The Palestinians made a significant advance toward self-government with the creation of the Palestinian National Authority, composed of a democratically elected Council with Arafat as its head. For the first time, the PLO’s status was legitimized internationally. Israeli troops were redeployed from Gaza and Jericho and from the villages and cities in the West Bank. Despite the successes of the Oslo process, failures to fulfill commitments, internal political opposition, lack of progress in negotiating final status issues, and outbreaks of violence undermined the trust-building element of Oslo that was intended to make possible a final peace agreement. The Oslo approach to Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking efforts effectively came to an end with the failure of the Camp David Summit in 2000 and the subsequent outbreak of the second Palestinian Intifada.

Program signed, one of a kind, Washington, September 13, 1993, with accompanying program. The participants in the peace signing who signed the program are:

Bill Clinton – President

Warren Christopher- US Secretary of State

Yitzhak Rabin – Prime Minister, Israel

Shimon Peres – Foreign Affairs Minister

Mahmoud Abbas – PLO

Yasser Arafat – PLO

Andrei Kozyrev – Russian Foreign Minister

This program is accompanied by various photographs. One shows Peres and Arafat shaking hands. It was taken by Vice President Al Gore’s wife and is signed by her. We obtained this group directly from a primary player in the events of the day, and it has never before been offered for sale.