Middle East

Abstract

United Nations efforts in 1993 focused on helping to bring about a comprehensive settlement of the complex Middle East conflict, while the parties to the conflict themselves were engaged in an ongoing peace process sponsored by the Russian Federation and the United States and aided by Norway. In its multilateral negotiations, the United Nations acted as a full participant. Those negotiations resulted in the signing, on 13 September in Washington, D.C., of the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a historic breakthrough that was welcomed by many States and international organizations. The handshake at that ceremony between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat provided a compelling symbol of the possibility of peace between former enemies. Prior to that, on 9 September, Israel and PLO had exchanged letters of mutual recognition, thereby paving the way to further political negotiations. The General Assembly expressed full support for the Declaration of Principles as well as the Agreement between Israel and Jordan on the Common Agenda, signed on 14 September, as an important initial step in achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East, and urged all parties to implement the agreements (resolution 48/58).