Peres–Hussein London Agreement
The London Agreement between
Zaid al-Rifai and Director General of the Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry, Yossi Beilin
.
Overview
The agreement outlined the framework for an international peace conference hosted by the
US Secretary of State George Shultz
for its promotion as an American initiative.
Peres, serving as the Foreign Affairs Minister on behalf of the
Jordanian Option", namely the resolution of the Palestinian issue through Jordanian sovereignty over the entirety or most of the West Bank. Shamir, however, was unenthusiastic about the Jordanian Option and feared that an international conference would force an undesirable solution on Israel. Peres informed him of the agreement on his return to Israel but refused to provide Shamir with a copy and continued to promote it independently. Mistrust between both leaders as well as ideological differences led to Shamir's rejection of the agreement, and subsequently to Peres's failure to approve it in the Israeli cabinet in May. At the same time, Shamir sent Moshe Arens
to meet with Shultz and block the peace conference.
Hussein was bitterly disappointed by Peres' inability to implement the agreement, and consequently disengaged from any further initiative to promote a solution to the Arab–Israeli conflict. Following the start of the
international peace conference between Israel and the Arab countries was eventually held in Madrid
in October 1991, adhering to a framework similar to that agreed by Peres and Hussein in 1987.
See also
References
- ^ The Peres-Hussein London Agreement, 11 April 1987, section C, quoted in Shimon Peres, Battling for Peace: Memoirs, Orion Books, 1995, p. 423