Twenty years ago this week, the first Oslo Accord was signed in Washington. Shaking hands on the White House lawn before US President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), agreed to embark on a peace process to end decades of conflict.
I remember that day well. Along with a great many people across the world, both within and outside the Middle East, I was hopeful about the historic agreement. As prime minister of Norway at the time, I also felt a sense of joy that the talks between the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators who had worked tirelessly in secret over the previous nine months, in and around Oslo, had produced unexpected results.