Highly secretive talks in Norway resulted in the
landmark Oslo Accord between the PLO and the Israeli government in 1993.
The accord stipulated a five-year plan in which Palestinians of the West
Bank and the Gaza Strip would gradually become self-governing. Arafat
became president of the new Palestinian Authority. In 1994, Israel signed
a peace treaty with Jordan; Israel still has no formal agreement with
Syria or Lebanon.
On Nov. 4, 1995, Prime Minister Rabin was slain
by a Jewish extremist, jeopardizing the tentative progress toward peace.
Shimon Peres succeeded him until May 1996 elections for the Knesset gave
Israel a new hard-line prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, by a razor-thin
margin. Netanyahu reversed or stymied much of the Oslo Accord, contending
that it offered too many quick concessions and jeopardized Israelis'
safety.
Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations in 1997
were repeatedly undermined by both sides. Although the Hebron Accord was
signed in January, calling for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from
Hebron, the construction of new Jewish settlements on the West Bank in
March profoundly upset progress toward peace.
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