The rubble of the burned Israeli kibbutzim and the gutted buildings in Gaza have brought back to a metaphorical international table the urgency of translating into reality the hope for peace contained in one of the images that marked the twentieth century: the handshake between the Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on the White House lawn on September 13, 1993.
Thirty-one years later history repeats itself tragically, and cyclically.
Now, while international chancelleries seek solutions for a ceasefire and the release of the hostages still alive, the effort for a peace agreement seems more vital than ever.
Despite obstacles that seem insurmountable.
The Oslo Accords -
A whole year of secret negotiations between the fjords around Oslo, keeping even the CIA in the dark, "had created an unprecedented astral conjunction", said Yossi Beilin, Israeli deputy foreign minister who in 1992 had initiated contacts with the Palestinians.
After having supported Saddam Hussein's aggression against Kuwait, Yasser Arafat no longer had the help or money of the Arab countries.
In June 1992, Labor had won the elections with Yitzhak Rabin: Beilin convinced Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
Peres convinced Rabin.
The dialogue was announced and the Americans were involved.
At the White House on September 13, 1993, Rabin and Arafat shook hands.
It was decided to start with the experiment: "Gaza and Jericho first", with autonomy for the two cities.
There was some success.
But the Israeli right, Hamas and above all terrorism on both sides blew it all up.
In 1994, an extremist Jew assassinated Yitzhak Rabin in Tel Aviv.
Camp David -
The then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and the President of the Palestinian National Authority Yasser Arafat took part in the Camp David Middle East peace summit between 11 and 24 July 2000.
Under the aegis of US President Bill Clinton.
Barak, under strong US pressure, proposed to Arafat a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, the return of a certain number of refugees, the demilitarization of the Palestinian state and the dismantling of terrorist groups.
Arafat rejected the offer.
Clinton would have liked Camp David to end his life as president with a historic success.
Instead, two months later the second Intifada broke out.
Arafat did not stop her.
Two States, two peoples -
The proposal of two States for two peoples which envisaged the creation of a State of Palestine with the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and with East Jerusalem as its capital, in compliance with the agreements made during the armistice of 1949, was underlying Saudi Arabia's proposed peace solution in 2002. It was accepted by the Palestinian National Authority and all Arab League countries.
In exchange for the truce, the plan promised diplomatic relations between the Arab countries and Israel and the return to the pre-1967 borders. A solution also widespread in Israel in the socialist Zionism movement.
It was approved by the UN but never built.
Peace for Prosperity
- In 2020 Donald Trump presented the Peace for Prosperity at a press conference with Benyamin Netanyahu, a plan which in exchange for some extra concessions imposed the recognition of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
For the Palestinians, a significant territorial expansion, with a territory comparable in size to that of the West Bank and Gaza.
The plan was immediately rejected by the Palestinians.
Who were not invited to the meeting.
Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA