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30 Years Since Oslo: Why Did the Accords Fail and Can the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process be Salvaged?
Tuesday, September 30, 2025 @ 9:00 am - 10:00 am
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An online event featuring former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian National Authority Nasser Al-Kidwa.
Co-organized by: The UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies and The Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law & Israel Studies at UC Berkeley
Co-sponsored by: The UCLA Center for Middle East Development, The UCLA Department of Public Policy, and America at a Crossroads
About the Talk:
The Israelis and Palestinians signed the landmark Oslo II peace agreement thirty years ago, on September 28, 1995. The agreement was submitted to the United Nations as an official treaty between the parties. Many believed peace had finally come, but those hopes were dashed when the parties failed to move the process forward to resolve the so-called “permanent status” issues. The intervening years have seen more conflict and bloodshed. Please join us for an important discussion with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and former Palestinian National Authority Foreign Minister Nasser Al-Kidwa. They will analyze why Oslo failed and discuss what can be done today to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The conversation will be moderated by Professor Kenneth A. Bamberger (UC Berkeley) and Professor Steven E. Zipperstein (UCLA).
About the Speakers:
Ehud Olmert served as Prime Minister of the State of Israel from 2006–2009, making the establishment of a peace agreement with the Palestinians his priority. He served in the Israeli Knesset from 1973–2009 and was twice elected to be the Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993–1998. In 2008, he proposed a peace agreement with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the basis of a two-state solution.
Nasser Al-Kidwa is a prominent member of the Palestinian political party Fatah, a member of the Palestinian National Council (PNC), and the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian National Authority. He served as the PLO / Palestine Observer to the United Nations in New York from 1991–2004. In 2021, Al-Kidwa founded the National Democratic Assembly and headed the “Freedom” list for the Palestinian elections that were arbitrarily canceled.
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