The U.S. had promised that the defeat of Iraq would open a window of opportunity for Arab-Israeli peace, and began vigorous diplomacy. On October 30, 1991, Shamir sat down at the Madrid peace conference with the foreign ministers of Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation. This unprecedented gathering-the first time Syria and Jordan had officially negotiated with Israel, and the first such official Israeli-Palestinian talks-quickly bogged down in discussions of UN Resolution 242, Palestinian autonomy and rights, Jerusalem, settlements, and the PLO’s role. Subsequent sessions got no further. But on June 23, 1992, an Israeli election ousted Shamir’s likud, whose West Bank settlements had attracted U.S. ire, and brought in a pragmatic Labor-led government under Yitzhak Rabin. Rabin promptly curtailed settlement and promised Palestinian autonomy.

The optimism accompanying the first round of talks under the new Israeli government, held in November 1992, was soon undermined. Following an escalation in terrorist acts against Israelis, led by Hamas, an increasingly popular Islamic fundamentalist party in the occupied territories, the Israeli government deported 415 Islamic activists to southern Lebanon in December 1992. Palestinian representatives refused to resume talks with Israel until the deportees were allowed to return; only months of diplomatic efforts brought the parties back to the table in April 1993.