BICOM

Although Israel and Jordan maintained secret relations, the first public meeting between King Hussein of Jordan and prime minister Rabin took place in Washington on 25 July 1994. This meeting produced the Washington Declaration, signed by King Hussein and prime minister Rabin, with US president Bill Clinton serving as a witness. The major achievements of the Washington Declaration were a series of agreements and concrete steps: (1) the state of hostility between Jordan and Israel was terminated; (2) both states agreed to seek a just, lasting and comprehensive peace based on UN Resolutions 242 and 338; and (3) Israel would respect the special role of the Hashemite Kingdom over Muslim holy shrines in Jerusalem.

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On 29 August 1994, this agreement was signed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The agreement puts into effect the next phase (early empowerment) of the Declaration of Principles (Oslo I).

View the Agreement on Preparatory Transfer of Powers and Responsibilities

At a ceremony in Cairo on 4 May 1994, Israel and the Palestinians signed the Gaza-Jericho Agreement (sometimes called the Cairo Agreement). The agreement led to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA) shortly thereafter. Each party to this agreement undertook numerous obligations, foremost among them Israel’s commitment to turn territory over to the PA, and the Palestinian commitment to combat terror and prevent violence.

View the Gaza-Jericho Agreement (the Cairo Agreement)

On 26 October 1994, at the Arava desert border crossing, prime minister Rabin and King Hussein of Jordan, alongside Jordanian prime minister Abdul-Salam Majali, signed a formal peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, normalising relations between them. The treaty comprises 30 articles, five annexes and six maps addressing such issues as boundary demarcations, security, water, refugees, police cooperation, environmental issues and mutual border crossings.

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The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (also known as Oslo II) was signed on 24 September 1995 in Taba, Egypt, and countersigned four days later in Washington. It is an extensive, complex document. Among its major provisions, Oslo II calls for further Israeli troop redeployments beyond the Gaza and Jericho areas. Under the agreement, Israel was first scheduled to redeploy from the major Palestinian population centres in the West Bank (the ‘second redeployment’) and later from all rural areas (the ‘third redeployment’), with the exception of Israeli settlements and the Israeli-designated military areas. The IDF retained responsibility for the safety of the citizens of Israel, and Israel released numerous Palestinian prisoners who had not been involved in the killing of Israelis. For its part, the Palestinian Authority assumed responsibility for civil affairs and security, including the commitment to prevent terror attacks on Israel.

View the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement (Oslo II)

The Hebron Protocol called for dividing the West Bank city of Hebron into Israeli and Palestinian areas. Israel agreed to withdraw from 80 percent of Hebron whilst maintaining security control over 20 percent of the city. The protocol (along with the Note for the Record) reaffirmed areas to be implemented in accordance with the Interim Agreement (Oslo II). For Israel, this included responsibilities to redeploy troops, negotiation of a safe passage between Gaza and the West Bank and the opening of a port and airport in Gaza. In return, the Palestinians reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate with Israel on security issues and to combat terrorism. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and chairman Yasser Arafat agreed to restart permanent status negotiations.

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The Wye River Memorandum was signed by Prime Minister Netanyahu and chairman Arafat on 23 October 1998 in a ceremony attended by King Hussein of Jordan and hosted by president Clinton. The memorandum consists of steps to facilitate the implementation of the Interim Agreement (Oslo II) and other related agreements, including the January 1997 Note for the Record. The agreement emphasises reciprocity and addresses specific security concerns that Israel had raised in the past. Attached to the memorandum is a ‘timeline’, which outlines step by step the implementation of the mutual undertakings incumbent upon each side. Upon completion of each phase of the Palestinian commitments, Israel was to transfer a specified percentage of land to the Palestinians within the context of ‘further redeployments’ as stated in previous agreements. As result of this agreement, Israel withdrew from an additional 13 percent of the West Bank.

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This protocol – based on the Interim Agreement (Oslo II), the Wye River Memorandum and the Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement – set out the parameters for the use of a safe passage between the West Bank and Gaza.

View the Protocol concerning safe passage between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip

On 4 September 1999, the Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement was signed by prime minister Ehud Barak and chairman Arafat. Restating the commitment of the two sides to full implementation of all agreements reached since September 1993, the agreement set out to resolve the outstanding issues of the interim status, in particular those set out in the Wye River Memorandum, in order to accelerate completion of the interim period towards the initiation of negotiations on permanent status.

View the Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement