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The prolonged Israeli war against the Gaza Strip, now extending beyond ten months, has thrust into the forefront the fate of the 1993 agreement signed at the White House and endorsed by then US President Bill Clinton. The Oslo Accords were signed by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) President Yasser Arafat. They are referred to as the Oslo Accords, after the city where the secret negotiations took place. These discussions ran parallel to the official and public talks conducted under the framework of the Madrid Conference in 1991.
In practice, the Oslo Accords have progressively lost their significance. Furthermore, the agreement failed to resolve several core issues of the conflict, such as the future status of Jerusalem, the return of Palestinian refugees, borders, water resources, and the independent Palestinian State.
Although the Oslo Accords are often seen as falling short of even minimal expectations—and indeed, they do—the agreement was not fully embraced by Israel, which failed to implement many of its provisions, despite the modesty of some, which do not constitute a challenge to Israel’s “fundamental” political and security concerns. Moreover, the Israeli society was not ready for “peace,” as demonstrated by the assassination of the Prime Minister who signed the agreement by a Jewish extremist in a Tel Aviv square.
Today, Israeli society remains largely unreceptive to peace, especially with the rise of far-right factions advocating for a Jewish synagogue within Al-Aqsa Mosque—a provocation deeply offensive to Muslims, both Palestinian and Arab, and even non-Muslims who hold the mosque in high religious and symbolic regard. Even amidst the country’s longest-ever war, the majority of Israelis continue to support their government or at least refrain from pushing to overthrow it. Public demonstrations, when they occur, primarily call for the release of detainees rather than an end to the war. Additionally, the few voices advocating for “peace” have largely faded from the Israeli political landscape.
The Oslo Accords’ outcome has been reduced to security matters, involving cooperation between the Palestinian National Authority and Israeli security and intelligence agencies. The political process has stalled entirely, with Israel neither accepting nor demonstrating any willingness to adhere to the agreement’s terms. Furthermore, Israel continues its systematic settlement expansion in the West Bank, where approximately 800,000 settlers now reside.
Israel has not withdrawn from the West Bank. Instead, it has recently intensified its assault on the northern regions, demolishing roads, homes, neighborhoods, and streets as though waging total war.
Israel has not only disavowed the Oslo Accords, which its Prime Minister signed in 1993, but has also ignored the Arab Peace Initiative, proposed by Saudi Crown Prince Abdallah bin Abdelaziz (later King Abdallah) and unanimously endorsed at the 2002 Arab Summit in Beirut. The initiative offered peace and full normalization of relations with Arab countries in return for Israel’s compliance with UN resolutions and its withdrawal to the 1967 borders.
Israel clearly views the concept of peace as incompatible with its Zionist project and doubts that any agreement can guarantee its security. Consequently, it undermines all peace initiatives and obstructs current efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza. Israel relies on a persistent adversary to control its society by perpetuating the notion of a constant threat, while the central issue of the conflict—the occupation itself—remains consistently overlooked.
