Norway and the Middle East process : past involvement, mediation efforts, outcome

Abstract

A great number of studies have been made and articles written about the secret Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that led to the Oslo Accord. But, few research attempts have been there to understand the reasons behind the Norwegian historic mediation breakthrough, at a time when many other mediators failed. The prevailing perception for many scholars and mediation analysts is that Norway played a crucial role by providing a secret venue and appropriate conditions for the parties to make painful compromises and reach mutually acceptable solutions (win-win). The paper makes an effort to answer the question about why Israel and the Palestinians found Norway to be a trustworthy mediator. It analyses the nature of the internal Norwegian political factors that motivated this Scandinavian country to assume the role of the peacemaker. The paper makes a brief historic review of the Norwegian relations both with Israel and PLO and analyses the impact of these relations on the articulation of the Norwegian policy towards the conflict.