BICOM

In the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War, US president George Bush Sr. and US secretary of state James Baker organised  the Madrid Conference, in collaboration with Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev. It was attended by Israel, Syria, Lebanon and a joint Palestinian-Jordanian delegation. The opening of the three-day conference inaugurated two separate yet parallel negotiating tracks – the bilateral track (meant to resolve bilateral conflicts) and the multilateral track (intended to shape the future Middle East and build confidence among the regional parties). For the first time, Israel entered into direct, face-to-face negotiations with Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinians. Today’s Middle East peace negotiations are carried out within the structure of the Madrid Framework.

View the Madrid Peace Framework