It’s Time to Reactivate the Oslo Accords

In view of the latest developments in the area and the devastating wars that we have been through, I would like to propose that it is time to try again to implement the Oslo Accords.

Originally signed in 1993 between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel under U.S. auspices. These agreements, although they failed to deliver a final peace, and despite the loads of contempt and blame they have sustained, remain, in my view, the only practical and viable framework for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. They established mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO, a phased transfer of authority to a Palestinian administration, and a step-by-step roadmap addressing key final-status issues such as Jerusalem, refugees, borders, and settlements.

Alternative proposals, such as a single-state solution or managing instead of resolving the conflict, lack political feasibility, widespread support, and risk triggering further violence. Historical experience shows that one-state proposals often lead to internal strife, while conflict management only perpetuates cycles of violence, as witnessed over the past three decades, including the October 7, 2023 escalation.

The Oslo process faltered due to multiple factors: assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the rise of right-wing Israeli governments opposed to a Palestinian state and expanding settlements, Hamas-led terror attacks, the onset of the Second Intifada, and the internal Palestinian split between the West Bank and Gaza since 2007.

Moreover, the international community failed to effectively support the agreements, undermining the political process.

However, recent regional developments, such as the weakening of the “resistance axis,” including Iran, open a window to forge a new regional alliance of moderate Arab states and Israel, as initiated by the Abraham Accords. Within this framework, there is potential to reactivate the Oslo Accords with updates that reflect current realities.

Achieving this requires bold, mutual steps: Israel must freeze settlement expansion and explicitly endorse a two-state solution, overcoming right-wing political resistance; Palestinians must reject extremist movements, eliminate terrorism, and reform institutions for genuine representation in negotiations. The international community, led by the U.S. and Europe, must also play a more proactive role in steering both sides back to negotiations based on the Oslo framework and bring in moderate Arab states to support a viable regional environment.

In conclusion, despite their shortcomings, the Oslo Accords remain, in my view, the only balanced and implementable solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, provided political will is renewed by both parties and the international community.