Madrid Conference

Lexicon of Terms

Opening of the Madrid Conference with speech of US President George Bush, October 30, 1991

Madrid Conference

The Madrid Conference was intended, as stipulated by the Israeli government, to become the starting point for bilateral and international talks between Israel and its neighboring countries. It followed seven months of intense talks held by American Secretary of State James Baker throughout the Middle East, beginning March 1991, in order to encourage all parties related to the Israeli-Arab conflict to participate in an international conference. Prior to the conference, several other demands made by Israel were also accepted: That the PLO will not take part in negotiations; Palestinians living in territories occupied by Israel will take part in the committee through a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation, provided that they will be first approved by Israel; and no prior conditions will be set for negotiation.

Invitations to the conference were sent jointly by Secretary Baker and Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs Boris Pankin. The conference was opened on October 30th 1991 with speaking engagements of US President George Bush and President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, as well as chairmen of both participating delegations, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir (who insisted on participating even though the conference was mainly attended by foreign ministers) and Palestinian delegate Haidar Abdel-Shafi who headed the Palestinian delegation within the joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation.

All speeches tended toward aggression, and that of Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa carried particularly hostile content. However, the gathering in itself was an achievement for all parties. In addition to the official delegates, all Arab states (except for Iraq) were represented by observers. The Madrid Conference had brought about direct bilateral talks, held in Washington, between Israel and Syrian, Lebanese, and the Jordanian-Palestinian delegations.

Five sessions of talks were held in Washington under the Likud government, each dealing with procedural matters. The Likud refused to discuss territorial concessions and limited the talks to a restricted autonomy plan for the Palestinians. Following the elections and the rise of the Labor Party, talks continued to be held in Washington (see Oslo Accords), while talks with Jordan and Syria became less formal and official.