Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1991
Aliya from the former Soviet Union. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, radical
Arab states lose their superpower sponsor, and post-Soviet governments develop rela-
tions with Israel. Large numbers of Jews are able to leave the territory of the former
Soviet Union. In the 1990s about 1.1 million people immigrate to Israel, increasing
Israel's population by approximately 15 percent.
September 13,
Oslo Accords. Israel and the PLO sign the Declaration of Principles (Oslo Accords):
1993
this is the beginning of a peace process that ultimately failed in 2000.
July 1, 1994
The Palestinian Authority (PA) begins to rule the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
October 26,
Israel and Jordan sign a peace treaty.
1994
September 28,
Israel and the PLO sign the Interim Agreement.
1995
November 4,
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated. Shimon Peres succeeds him.
1995
September
The PA initiates rioting over Israel's opening of a tunnel near the Temple Mount — the
1996
peak of violence during the peace process.
January 18,
Hebron Accords. Israel and Palestinians agree that Israel will turn over 80 percent of
1997
Hebron — a part Jewish, part Palestinian village in the West Bank— to the Palestinian
Authority.
October 1998
Wye River Accord. Israel agrees to turn over more West Bank territory and to release
Palestinian prisoners if the Palestinian Authority stops inciting anti-Israel activities
and terrorism.
March 2000
Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations falter after Syrian President Hafez al-Assad rejects the
Israeli offer in Geneva.
July 2000
Camp David summit. A summit meeting at Camp David, Maryland, fails when Pal-
estinian leader Yasir Arafat rejects all Israeli offers for a framework for further talks,
including the proposal of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in east
Jerusalem.
2000 -2005
Second Intifada. Palestinians launch a second uprising on September 28. During the
next several years there are many terrorist attacks within Israel.
March-April
Operation Defensive Shield. Israel carries out Operation Defensive Shield in the West
2002
Bank to root out Palestinian terrorist infrastructures.
June 2002
Construction of a security fence to protect Israel from terrorist attacks from the West
Bank begins.
March 28,
Arab Peace initiative. Saudi Crown Prince Abdallah proposes a peace plan, which is
2002
watered down in an Arab summit.
December 18,
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon presents the idea of unilateral Israeli withdrawal from
2003
the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank in a speech at the Herzliya Conference, an
international conference of world leaders held annually at an Israeli institute to discuss
global strategies.
