The historic handshake between former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat on September 13, 1993, on the White House lawn was etched into Israeli memory as a symbol of hope, reconciliation, and the end of the conflict.
In hindsight, it also became a symbol of illusion – not because Israelis rejected peace, but because they faced a fundamentally different political culture, one rooted in duplicity, concealment, and deliberate deception.
Arafat signed the Oslo Accords, recognized the State of Israel, and pledged to abandon terrorism. At the same time, he rebuilt Fatah’s armed structures, rearmed his forces, tolerated systematic incitement, and laid the groundwork for the next confrontation.
While speaking the language of peace in English before international audiences, he delivered a different message in Arabic, making clear that Oslo was not the end of the conflict but merely another stage.
Peace as a tactic, not an end
This was not an accidental contradiction but a strategy. The Palestinian “phased plan,” adopted by the PLO in the 1970s, explicitly defined every political achievement as a step toward the ultimate goal: the elimination of the “Zionist entity.”
Arafat himself repeatedly likened Oslo to the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, a temporary agreement signed out of weakness, only to be violated later.
The results were swift. Instead of peace, Israel faced an unprecedented wave of terrorism: suicide bombings, mosque-based incitement, and the construction of terror infrastructures under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority.
Even as Israel transferred territory, authority, and weapons, trust did not follow. What emerged was a dual system – civilian governance outwardly and a quasi-military structure internally.
This culture did not disappear with Arafat’s death. It changed its form, language, and presentation, but not its core logic.
The same doctrine rebranded
In recent years, Ra’am party chairman Mansour Abbas has portrayed himself as a pragmatist seeking integration into Israeli politics and distancing himself from radical ideological influences.
He has even declared a break with Muslim Brotherhood Shura institutions.
Yet here, too, the familiar pattern emerges. This is not ideological transformation but tactical adaptation. Not abandonment of doctrine, but message management.
The phased approach has not vanished; it has simply adopted a modern suit. As fears of sanctions grow and as renewed threats loom – including the possibility of a future US administration designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization – rhetoric softens and declarations become more measured.
This does not indicate a change in essence. Political Islam, across its various branches, operates in stages: first “da’wah” – social, educational, and religious influence through nonviolent means – and only later confrontation.
Those who fail to recognize this risk mistaking conciliatory statements for ideological surrender.
Israeli experience teaches that actions, not words, must be examined. Arafat spoke of peace while preparing for war. Abbas speaks of civic integration, yet has not truly disavowed the ideological foundations from which he emerged.
Formal disengagement from a Shura body or institution does not erase ideology; it is a technical adjustment designed to reassure, obscure, and delay confrontation.
The problem is not only political but also cultural – a culture in which deception is not an exception but a tool. One message is crafted for Western audiences, another for internal consumption. Peace is treated not as an objective, but as an instrument.
The Oslo Accords taught Israel a painful lesson: peace is not secured through documents alone. It is measured through sincerity, education, and genuine shifts in worldview.
As long as the Palestinian political spectrum, in its various forms, remains committed to the phased doctrine, every conciliatory declaration must be approached with skepticism.
The author is CEO of Radios 100FM, an honorary consul and deputy dean of the Consular Diplomatic Corps, president of the Israeli Radio Communications Association, and a former Galei Tzahal correspondent and NBC television reporter.