As the 30th anniversary of the Oslo Accords approaches, more and more will be written. It was Israel’s overarching attempt to make peace. It backfired. Instead of peace, Israel has gotten unbridled terrorism. Unlike the Abraham Accords, which have been more of what a peace agreement with the Arabs should look like, the Oslo Accords have only brought grief to Israel. The very same Leftists who are attacking Prime Minister Netanyahu today were the ones who constructed the Oslo Accords and gave guns to terrorists.
Richard Nixon, at the time, called the September 13, 1993, signing on the South Lawn of the White House “a dog and pony show.” Bill Clinton, at the end of his second term, called Arafat “a colossal failure.” Arafat had no real intention of making peace. His aim was to wreak havoc on Israel from Ramallah rather than from Beirut or Tunisia. Thousands of Israelis were either killed or wounded from the moment Arafat set foot in Israel until he died in 2004.
Mahmoud Abbas, who took over, has continued the “pay to slay” activities started under Arafat. Even though the Taylor Force Act of 2018 tries to curtail US taxpayer money being sent to Abbas for his “martyrs fund,” terrorism still is promoted and paid for by Abbas and his henchmen. America continues to send 600 million dollars annually to the PA. After 30 years, US taxpayers have funded the PA to the tune of $18 billion. In addition to direct payments to the PA, the US sends about $300 million annually to the UNRWA (in 2022 it was $344 million), which reaches the PA indirectly. Despite these huge sums of money, terrorism against Israelis is rampant and peace is more distant than ever.
The Oslo Accords have been an absolute lesson in futility. Israelis for the most part have soured on the Oslo process. Unfortunately, the enterprise continues to be propped up and at times resurrected by far-left politicians. It is presumably why America continues to pour hard-earned US taxpayer money into a losing proposition. The PA is probably one of the most corrupt regimes in the world today. Arafat himself stole about $8 billion meant for his people. Abbas, too, has become a billionaire off of funds directed to his people. America can ill afford to continue writing a nearly billion-dollar check annually to the corrupt PA.
After 30 years, it is time to give up on a non-working and dangerous charade that simply has not produced peace. The Abraham Accords model is a much better one to try in the future. Oslo must be torn down and a new process started from scratch. Everyone will gain if that approach is taken. Otherwise, we all continue to lose. Israel has suffered enough over 30 years from an experiment gone bad.
Joseph M. Frager is a physician and lifelong activist.
