After Oslo: A Legal Historical Perspective

This chapter revisits the Oslo Accords twenty years later. When the Oslo Accords were signed on September 13, 1993, many thought that finally the Israel–Palestine conflict was winding down or, at worst, entering its final phase. However, from the perspective of 2013, the prospect of peaceful resolution seems more elusive than ever, and indeed conditions have changed so adversely as to make any assertion of an attainable and sustainable peace seem to be at best an exercise in wishful thinking and at worst an expression of bad faith. In a sense, the overarching question twenty years after the Oslo Accords is whether this dismal conclusion that the peace option is now foreclosed for both sides is persuasive or not. If so, what now?