The famous handshake on the White House lawn on September 13, 1993, that iconically marked the start of the 1993 Oslo Accords gave observers the vision that Israeli-Palestinian peace was just around the corner.
It set Israelis and Palestinians on the road to a two-state resolution to the conflict and created the first-ever Palestinian government. It also put in place an interim management system for the West Bank and Gaza that was meant to be phased out but held for 30 years.
Three decades later, the conflict continues to claim innocent lives, peace seems to be a pipe dream, and the vision of two states seems more elusive than it was on that bright fall day.
One of the architects of the Oslo Accords, Yossi Beilin, and former US special Middle East coordinator Dennis Ross said that time has not dimmed their belief in a two-state resolution even as they reflected on the pitfalls of the process that marked one of the more pivotal moments in Israeli history.
Beilin, who at the time was a Labor Party politician and the deputy foreign minister, was among the Israelis who stood on the White House lawn. READ MORE
