History of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict negotiations in Oslo, Norway. On September 9, 1993, Yasser Arafat sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, stating that the PLO officially recognized Israel's right to exist and officially renouncing terrorism. On September 13, Arafat and Rabin signed a Declaration of Principles in Washington, D.C., on the basis of the negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian teams in Oslo, Norway. The declaration was a major conceptual breakthrough achieved outside of the Madrid framework, which specifically barred foreign-residing PLO leaders from the negotiation process. After this, a long process of negotiation known as the "Oslo peace process" began. During the
Yitzhak Rabin withdrew from the party leadership and candidacy for prime minister. Following his resignation and Labour Party defeat at the elections, Likud's Menachem Begin was elected in 1977. Until 1984 Rabin had been a member of Knesset and had sat on the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. From 1984 to 1990, he served as Minister of Defense in several national unity governments led by prime ministers Yitzhak Shamir and Shimon Peres. When Rabin came to office, Israeli troops were still deep in Lebanon. Rabin ordered their withdrawal to a "Security Zone" on the Lebanese side of the border. The South Lebanon