Geneva Initiative

(Geneva Accord)

   Private understanding signed on 1 December 2003 in Switzerland between groups of Israeli and Palestinian former parliamentarians and other notables headed by Joseph (Yossi) Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo. Premised largely on the terms of reference established at the Camp David II and Taba talks (2000-1), its essential provisions included a two-state solution based on the pre-1967 lines with "minor, mutual modifications" and territorial exchanges; Israeli and Palestinian areas of Jerusalem as capitals of the respective states, with each side's holy places falling under its sovereignty; the Palestinian state to be "non-militarized" but with a strong security force; and security arrangements to be guaranteed for Israel but without violating Palestinian sovereignty, to be overseen by a multinational force stationed in the new independent Palestinian state. The initiative prescribed offering the Palestinian refugees options among five permanent places of residence, although it emphasized that all options other than access to the Palestinian state "are at the sovereign discretion of the State concerned." The initiative proposed an "end to the conflict and all claims" but was not endorsed by the government of Israel nor the Palestine Liberation Organization or the Palestinian Authority.

   See also Arab-Israeli Conflict.