As accusations fly about Israel and the international community failing to come up with a peace offer that will satisfy the needs of the Palestinians, it’s worth revisiting some of Israel’s repeated efforts over the last several decades to establish peace with the Palestinians, yet these offers have all been rejected.
Following is a brief timeline detailing peace proposals rejected by the Palestinians:
- 1947 UN Partition Plan: At the time when Great Britain governed the territory now fought over by Israel and Palestinians, the UN General Assembly proposed the establishment of two states, Jewish and Arab. This offer was accepted by the Jews and quickly rejected by the Palestinians.
- 1993-1994 Oslo Accords – The Oslo Accords represent the start of what was supposed to be a “peace process” for Israel and the Palestinians. Israel agreed to recognize the Palestinian Authority’s right to interim self-governance in Gaza and the West Bank in return for the Palestinians’ recognition of Israel’s sovereignty.
Soon after the “peace process” was established, Palestinians began attacking Israel with suicide bombers.
2000 Israel Offers Follow-up Peace Deal – Israel offered the Palestinians another opportunity to end the conflict, but the offer was rejected outright. Instead of proposing an alternate peace deal, former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat initiated terror attacks on Israel that led to the death of 1,184 Israelis, according to reports.
- 2005 Israelis evacuate Gaza Strip and West Bank –Israel ordered the evacuation of all Israeli settlements within Gaza and the West Bank, essentially giving this land to the Palestinians in an attempt to establish peace. The Palestinians did not accept this gesture of goodwill and instead allowed Hamas to take over the Gaza Strip and continued issuing terror attacks on Israel.
- 2008 peace proposal – Israel offered the PA another peace deal that was rapidly rejected by the PA’s new president Mahmoud Abbas. Reportedly, the Palestinians were not satisfied with the land boundaries proposed in the deal, as they did not allow the Palestinians control over Jerusalem’s holy sites.
- 2009 Israel Offers Support for Palestinian State – Israel offered conditional support for a demilitarized Palestinian state, which the Palestinians quickly rejected.
- 2020 Trump Peace Plan (Deal of the Century) – Palestinians quickly rejected a peace plan formulated by former President Donald Trump and supported by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The plan’s title was “Peace to Prosperity: A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People,” and focused on economic incentives to quickly and drastically repair the Palestinian economy. The Palestinians refused the deal prior to seeing it.
