1994 was one of the most dramatic years in the history of Israel's foreign relations. It opened with negotiations for the implementation of the Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles. The talks ran into difficulties in almost all elements involved, and required the intervention of the highest echelons. The talks, held initially in Taba and Cairo, were shifted to Oslo, Versailles and Davos. The negotiations were suspended a number of times, due to attempts to exert pressure and once because of a massacre committed by a Jewish gunman in the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron. This act,, which resulted in the death of 29 Moslem worshippers and the wounding of scores of others, resulted in massive international condemnation and caused much revulsion in Israel. It also led to the creation of an official inquiry commission, which found the perpetrator solely responsible for the act. Parallel to the talks, there were also many attacks on Israeli civilians. A number such attacks were committed in Afuld, Hadera, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, carried out by suicide squads of the Hamas. Terror by this and other Palestinian rejectionist organizations were responsible for the killing of some 50 Israeli Jews since January 1994. Undeterred by terror, the Isra6-PLO agreement on Gaza and Jericho was signed in Cairo on 4 May and implemented within three weeks, bringing Israeli rule in the Gaza Strip and the Jericho area to an end after 27 years. Power was handed over to the Palestinian
Authority headed by Yasser Arafat who established himself in Gaza in early July. On 24 August, an Israel-PLO Agreement on Preparatory Transfer of Powers and Responsibilities to the Palestinians in the West Bank was initialed and signed five days later. This was in fact an Early Empowerment which transferred to the Palestinians in the West Bank responsibilities in the areas of health, education, taxation, social affairs and tourism.
More dramatic were the moves between Israel and Jordan. They were set in motion in a secret meeting held in Amman between Foreign Minister Peres and King Hussein (3 November 1993). A draft declaration was agreed upon, but never implemented. Contacts with Jordan were maintained throughout the early months of 1994. After signing of the Gaza-Jericho Agreement, they gathered momentum. On 19 May 1994, another secret meeting took place, this time in London and this time between King Hussein and Prime Minister Rabin.
Additional understandings were reached. Israel proposed moving the Israel-Jordan talks from Washington to the Middle East. This was agreed upon. The United States became involved and in early June, during the visit of King Hussein to Washington, the idea of an Israeli-Jordanian ceremony at the While House was initially mooted. In July it was agreed that there would be meetings between the Israeli and Jordanian delegations on the border between Israel and Jordan. This was followed by a meeting at the level of foreign ministers in the framework of the U.S.-Israel-Jordan Trilateral Economic Commission, held on 20 July in Jordan. On 25 July, King Hussein and Prime Minister Rabin signed on the lawn of the White House an Israeli-Jordanian Agreement ending the state of war between them and setting a framework for negotiations. The host and witness was President Clinton. Events then moved fast. King Hussein flew his airliner back to Amman over Israeli airspace. Direct telephone links between Israel and Jordan were established. On 8 August a new border crossing north of Eilat and Aqaba was inaugurated by Jordan's Crown Prince Hassan, Prime Minister Rabin and Secretary of State Christopher. Mr. Rabin then visited Aqaba as the guest of King Hussein. Talks on the many issues that were to form the framework of the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty were started in Israel and Jordan. The two problematic issues were water and the border demarcation. The Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty was signed in Aqaba on 26 October 1994.
There was little visible progress in the negotiations with Syria. Presidents Clinton and Assad met in Geneva in January 1994, but the impasse was not broken. Israel presented a number of ideas, focussing mainly on withdrawal in phases on the Golan, parallel Syrian measures of normalization, some international presence to assure security and all this in the context of a peace treaty. The process was to last a number of years. The initial Syrian response was negative. There was virtually no progress in the talks with Lebanon. In fact, the southern Lebanese arena was active throughout 1994, and 12 Israeli soldiers lost their lives in Lebanon in the first eight months of 1994, killed by Hizbollah terrorists.
Israel continued to reap the benefits of the breakthrough with Jordan and the PLO. The number of countries which recognized Israel rose to 146 and those maintaining diplomatic and consular relations rose to 100. Ties with nations were cemented in the economic fields and in visits of heads of state.