In October 1991, the Madrid Conference convened at the initiative of Secretary of State James Baker and under the joint auspices of US President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, just a few months after the end of the first Gulf War. Israel participated in the conference, alongside Palestinian representatives (in the Jordanian delegation) and representatives from Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt.

The conference, which was the first attempt to create direct dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians and Arab countries (except for Egypt, with which Israel already had full diplomatic relations), convened against a backdrop of violence and terror in Israel and an endless war in Lebanon, thanks to American leadership that understood the importance of dialogue while also acknowledging the challenges.

“Before we run, we will walk, and before we walk, we will crawl, and yesterday we started to crawl,” said Secretary Baker, referring to the first day of discussions. And indeed, the conference began with crawling, even with confrontations that led Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir to abandon the talks and leave the stage to then-Deputy Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However, in retrospect, the discussions laid the groundwork for the Oslo Accords, Israel’s peace treaty with Jordan, and ultimately the Abraham Accords.

President George H.W. Bush, who in retrospect had one of the most successful administrations in terms of foreign policy implementation, took advantage of the dramatic international change brought about by the fall of the Soviet Union and the unipolar moment, as well as the success of the international coalition in the first Gulf War (which had achievable goals, unlike the second Gulf War led by his son George W. Bush), to convene all the relevant regional players in Madrid.

The conference featured bilateral tracks alongside a multilateral track, based on the understanding that both were necessary. Unfortunately, this insight was absent and was sorely lacking in the meetings held years later in Oslo, Camp David, and Annapolis.

“I believe that every mother wants her children to learn the art of living and not the science of war,” said Prime Minister Shamir in his speech at the conference, a statement that reflects a line of thought that is sadly absent today. Since we have sunk into a reality where the leadership in Israel sees war as the only solution to every problem, this “solution” has become our routine here over the past three years.

Not just Israel, many countries throughout the world lack the leadership that existed back then. The leaders of Israel and Russia today are warmongers, who have turned the “science of war” into their art. Even Trump, whose campaign rhetoric was that of a “dealmaker” and who considered himself worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize, gave up on negotiations and was dragged into another seemingly endless war.

The Madrid Conference can still serve as a model for how the wars in Gaza, Iran, and Lebanon should end. The core understanding of Madrid is that solutions to problems can be achieved through negotiation tables, rather than through endless rounds of fighting. The conference represents the idea that true victory over the radical forces led by Iran and the other jihadists in the region requires the collaboration of all regional actors in a joint response based upon political and economic peace between Israel and its neighbors.

Israeli recognition of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination in their own independent state is essential for achieving such peace. This is the heart of the conflict, and ignoring it, as Netanyahu’s Israel has been doing for decades, fuels all the regional conflicts and deepens Israel’s growing legitimacy crisis among the nations of the world, weakening Israel both internally and internationally.

The war with Iran, which does not hesitate to attack all its neighbors, proves how similar the true interests of Israel and the moderate Arab states are and how the collaboration of all the moderate forces in the region is necessary for progress toward a quieter and safer future for everyone. 

But against these common interests stands the approach of Netanyahu’s government to the Palestinian issue, which aims to destroy any chance of establishing a Palestinian state. The lack of any progress on the Palestinian issue, and indeed the worsening of the situation in this arena, prevents progress with Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia, toward rapprochement with Israel.

At the Madrid Conference, Prime Minister Shamir did not agree to territorial concessions, and Netanyahu responded to a press conference question from Gideon Sa’ar, then a young journalist with the newspaper “Hadashot” as follows: “Our position on the permanent solution is known.” But despite this rigid starting position, two years later, Israel agreed to territorial concessions as part of the Oslo Accords, which led to a peace of unparalleled importance with Jordan, creating unprecedented strategic depth for Israel from the east.

Today, Israel under Netanyahu’s leadership is not willing to make any compromises regarding the Palestinians, but precisely for this reason, there is a place for an international conference that will generate political energy, which can change the positions of global leaders, including Israeli leadership.

No matter how the war with Iran ends, the Middle East needs a strong and united coalition against extremism. The need is clear, essential, and critical, especially for Israel. The question is whether there is leadership capable of leading there. This week, Trump reiterated once again that he wants to be remembered as the “great peacemaker.” As of now, Trump’s peacekeeping efforts are quite shaky, in light of the ongoing war in Ukraine; the devastation in the Gaza Strip despite his “20-point plan” that has yet to be implemented; and, of course, the war with Iran. However, one can hope that as long as the motivation exists, actions will eventually accompany it.

The moment the war in Iran ends, the most necessary and urgent step is not to leave a political vacuum but to urgently create a framework for regional peace talks that will include Israel, the Palestinians, Lebanon, Syria, and all Arab countries – an “Updated Madrid Conference.”

As Israeli former diplomat and deputy national security adviser Eran Etzion wrote, this time it would be best for the conference to take place in the region, and Riyadh is the most suitable location. A conference in Riyadh will ensure Saudi Arabia’s commitment, which has leverage over all the relevant players and was behind the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002.

In such an initiative, Trump could rectify the looming failure in the war with Iran and turn it into a diplomatic success. Trump could build on his success in stopping the war in Gaza to reach an agreement that will bring about the 23-state solution, which this time would include a framework for a demilitarized Palestinian state as well as political arrangements between Israel and Lebanon and Syria.

In this way, Trump can fulfill his election promise, and we would gain a horizon that ultimately leads to true peace and security for the citizens of Israel. It is imperative to change the current direction that Netanyahu is leading us toward with his nightmarish vision of Israel as a “Super Sparta,” a vision that entails endless bloodshed for our children and grandchildren. Trump is empowered to bring Israel back from the path of endless war to a course of dialogue and political agreements, in part due to his outsized influence on the Israeli right. He should wield that power.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)