Summary
The Joint Understanding concluded at Annapolis, Maryland, on 27 November 2007 by the Government of the State of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, represented by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Mahmoud Abbas in his capacity as Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee and President of the Palestinian Authority, under the auspices of President George W. Bush and with the support of the participants of the international conference: the parties express their determination to end bloodshed and decades of conflict and to confront terrorism and incitement whether committed by Palestinians or Israelis, agree in furtherance of the goal of two states to immediately launch good faith bilateral negotiations to conclude a peace treaty resolving all outstanding issues including all core issues without exception, to engage in vigorous, ongoing and continuous negotiations and make every effort to conclude an agreement before the end of 2008 through a jointly led steering committee whose first session is set for 12 December 2007 and bi-weekly Abbas-Olmert meetings, and commit to immediately implement their respective obligations under the Quartet Roadmap of 30 April 2003, to form an American, Palestinian and Israeli mechanism led by the United States to follow up implementation, and to continue Roadmap implementation until they reach a peace treaty, with the United States to monitor and judge fulfilment and, unless otherwise agreed, implementation of the future peace treaty subject to implementation of the Roadmap as judged by the United States (Annapolis Conference Joint Understanding on Negotiations (27 November 2007), PDF p.1-2).
What the file is
The Joint Understanding as printed under the heading “Annapolis Conference Joint Understanding and Statements”, 2 PDF pages, about 505 words. The file carries the source line “Source: As Published by the Prime Minister’s Office - Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs” (PDF p.2). The text copy is clean and matches the original. No signatures are printed in the file.
Section by section
- Heading and parties (PDF p.1). Title, date 27 November 2007, and the convening statement naming Olmert, Abbas in his two capacities, Annapolis, Maryland, Bush’s auspices and the conference participants’ support, as in the Summary.
- Opening determination (PDF p.1). Determination to end bloodshed, suffering and decades of conflict, to usher in a new era of peace based on freedom, security, justice, dignity, respect and mutual recognition, to propagate a culture of peace and non-violence, and to confront terrorism and incitement, whether committed by Palestinians or Israelis.
- Two-state goal and launch of negotiations (PDF p.1). “In furtherance of the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security”, agreement to immediately launch good faith bilateral negotiations to conclude a peace treaty resolving all outstanding issues, including all core issues, without exception, as specified in previous agreements.
- Pace and target date (PDF p.1). Agreement to engage in vigorous, ongoing and continuous negotiations, and to make every effort to conclude an agreement before the end of 2008.
- Steering committee and negotiations teams (PDF p.1). A steering committee, led jointly by the head of the delegation of each party, will meet continuously, as agreed; it will develop a joint work plan and establish and oversee the work of negotiations teams to address all issues, to be headed by one lead representative from each party; its first session will be held on 12 December 2007.
- Leaders’ meetings (PDF p.1). President Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert will continue to meet on a bi-weekly basis to follow up the negotiations in order to offer all necessary assistance for their advancement.
- Roadmap commitment and mechanism (PDF p.1-2). Commitment to immediately implement their respective obligations under the Performance-Based Road Map to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israel-Palestinian Conflict, issued by the Quartet on 30 April 2003, and agreement to form an American, Palestinian and Israeli mechanism, led by the United States, to follow up on the implementation of the Roadmap.
- Roadmap until treaty, and the United States as judge (PDF p.2). Commitment to continue implementation of the ongoing obligations of the Roadmap until they reach a peace treaty; the United States will monitor and judge the fulfillment of the commitments of both sides of the Roadmap; unless otherwise agreed by the parties, implementation of the future peace treaty will be subject to the implementation of the Roadmap, as judged by the United States.
- Closing (PDF p.2). Profound appreciation to the President of the United States and his Administration, and to the participants of the international conference, for their support for the bilateral peace process.
Key passages
- “We agree to immediately launch good faith bilateral negotiations in order to conclude a peace treaty resolving all outstanding issues, including all core issues, without exception, as specified in previous agreements” (PDF p.1)
- “We agree to engage in vigorous, ongoing and continuous negotiations, and shall make every effort to conclude an agreement before the end of 2008” (PDF p.1)
- “Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, implementation of the future peace treaty will be subject to the implementation of the Roadmap, as judged by the United States” (PDF p.2)
Evidence the work relies on
A joint political instrument, not an evidentiary work. It invokes previous agreements for the specification of the issues to be resolved, and the Quartet Roadmap issued on 30 April 2003 for the parties’ respective obligations, whose fulfilment the United States is to monitor and judge. It cites no figures and no other documents.
Analysis
The Understanding’s structure couples a final-status launch to a Roadmap gate. The negotiations it launches are comprehensive in stated scope — all outstanding and all core issues, without exception — and time-boxed by an effort commitment, not a guarantee, to conclude before the end of 2008; the machinery is a jointly led steering committee, negotiations teams under one lead representative each, and bi-weekly leader meetings. The Roadmap limb runs the other way: implementation of the eventual peace treaty itself is made subject, unless the parties agree otherwise, to implementation of the Roadmap as judged by the United States, so the third party named as monitor and judge of both sides’ commitments also judges the condition for the treaty’s implementation. The text names no core issue individually, sets no terms for any of them, and contains no provision on settlements, borders, Jerusalem or refugees beyond the comprehensive-scope sentence.
People, organizations, places and events
Annapolis Conference, Ehud Olmert, Mahmoud Abbas, George Bush, Palestine Liberation Organization, Palestinian Authority, Quartet, Quartet Roadmap
Concepts
How it relates to other sources
This is the primary text for the Annapolis Joint Understanding, not previously held as a source in the wiki. It relaunches bilateral final-status negotiations on the foundation of A Performance-Based Road Map to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (Quartet, transmitted 7 May 2003), whose obligations it commits both parties to implement immediately and whose United States judging role it extends to the future treaty’s implementation; Resolution 1515 (2003) endorsing the Quartet Roadmap (19 November 2003) had endorsed that Roadmap and called for fulfilment of its obligations. Its two-states formulation continues the vision affirmed in Resolution 1397 (2002) (12 March 2002). The next Council instrument in the wiki, Resolution 1860 (2009) on Gaza (8 January 2009), recalls resolutions 1397 and 1515 and 1850 (2008) — not this Understanding — and calls in its paragraph 8 for renewed efforts toward the two-State vision as envisaged in resolution 1850 (2008). Nothing in this file records whether the end-of-2008 effort target was met; that question is left open below.
Open questions
- The file does not name the core issues individually; which issues count as core is referred to previous agreements, which are not specified by name in that sentence.
- No signatures are printed, and the file does not state the form in which the Understanding was concluded or adopted by the conference participants beyond their support.
- Whether an agreement was concluded before the end of 2008 is not recorded in this file.
Coverage
PDF p.1-2 of 2, read in full.