PE242T1 FDC Spain MIDDLE EAST PEACE CONFERENCE, BUSH-GORBACHEV 1991 Blue Helmets

The Madrid Conference on Peace in the Middle East 30.10 - 01.11.1991

World events in the early 1990s, primarily the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Gulf War, resulted in a change in the attitude of the Arab world towards Israel and the start of negotiations marking the beginning of of an era of peace in the Middle East.

On October 30, 1991, a peace conference, based on UN Resolution 242 and placed under the auspices of the United States, the former USSR and the EEC, met in Madrid. It was the first step in future bilateral and multilateral negotiations of all parties involved in the Middle East conflict. Delegations from Israel, Arab states and Palestinian representatives attended the Madrid Conference*, which lasted three days.

* Since the Madrid Conference, the direct bilateral negotiations which have continued between Israel and the Arab States have resulted in a peace treaty with Jordan (No. PE293). Negotiations with the Palestinians resulted in mutual recognition in September 1993 (Oslo I) and an Interim Agreement between Israel and the Palestinians (No. PE292).