The Oslo Accords

U.S. involvement in the Israeli-Arab peace process and later the Israeli-Palestinian peace process has a long history. First in 1956, the US has intervened in the region in order to attempt to settle disputes (at times when convenient to its interests). In 1978, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat signed the Camp David Accords, establishing a peace treaty between the two countries. President Jimmy Carter negotiated these agreements, and they were signed at Camp David in the United States (as their name suggests).

Palestinian youth during the First Intifadah

In 1987, the First Intifada broke out between Palestinians and Israelis. The Intifada (Arabic, roughly translated "uprising") was a series of actions taken against Israel by Palestinian organizations. It consisted of civil disobedience, boycotts of Israeli institutions in the West Bank and Gaza, refusal to pay taxes, vandalism, and stone-throwing. The Intifada also saw terrorist attacks carried out against Israelis, most notably a suicide attack involving an attacker who swerved a bus into a ravine, and a suicide bombing. The end of this conflict came through the Oslo Accords, signed in 1993, in which the US played a significant part.

President Clinton attempted to negotiate the Oslo Accords by following three facets: diplomacy, security, and economics. These also applied to other US-led Israeli peace initiatives during his term, including the restoration of embassies in Israel and Egypt and the Israel-Jordanian peace treaty in 1994. As part of the Oslo Accords, the US recognized the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), and the Palestinian Authority (PA), which were now considered the official representatives of the Palestinian people in the International community. This action by the United States greatly improved the credibility of the agreement. The US also established an international donor mechanism in order to assist the Palestinian economy in its development which would ensure future self-reliance.

The signing of the Oslo I Accords
(Left: Rabin, Center: Clinton, Right: Arafat)

In order to ensure security, President Clinton worked with both Israel and the PA in order to improve the situation. He worked to convince PA president Yasser Arafat to combat militant factions within the PA (such as Hamas, which presently controls Gaza). With Israel, Clinton worked to ensure Israel's technological edge in the conflict in order to increase trust and confidence in the peace process.

Unfortunately, with the assassination of Israeli Prime Minster Itzchak Rabin, the Oslo peace process was set back significantly. The assassination was executed by a right-wing Israeli activist who opposed Rabin's involvement in the peace process. The U.S. has continued to advocate peace in the region, but has since not come as close to achieving it has it had at Oslo.

New York Times headline after Rabin's assasination

Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ambassador-uri-savir/the-oslo-agreements_b_3920213.html
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&ssui=on#safe=active&q=itzhak+rabin
https://www.google.com/search?q=oslo+accords&oq=oslo+accords&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i57j69i60l4.2654j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&ssui=on
https://www.britannica.com/topic/intifadah