The Madrid peace conference letter of invitation, also known as the Madrid Invitation or Letter of invitation to the Middle East Peace Conference in Madrid, of October 19, 1991, was a formal diplomatic invitation by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

issued to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, Syria,

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

and the Palestinians, calling on them to come together and hold a

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

conference in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The resulting conference came to be known as the

Madrid Conference The Madrid Conference of 1991 was a peace conference, held from 30 October to 1 November 1991 in Madrid, hosted by Spain and co-sponsored by the United States and the Soviet Union. It was an attempt by the international community to revive the ...

that commenced on October 30, 1991. The invitation was issued in the name of

US President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

George H. W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and signed by

US Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

James A. Baker, III and

Boris Pankin Boris Dimitrievich Pankin (russian: Борис Дмитриевич Панкин; born 20 February 1931, in Frunze) is a former Soviet diplomat who served as acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR for a brief period in 1991. Earlier ca ...

for the

, and a reply by October 23, 1991, was requested. It is widely agreed that the invitation, which was an outcome of compromises by all sides, detailed the structure of the Madrid process in four main areas: #That there would be an opening conference having no power to impose solutions. #It called for bilateral talks with the Arab states bordering Israel. #Talks would be held with the Palestinians on a five-year period of interim self-rule, which would then be followed by talks on the permanent status. #There would be multilateral talks on key regional issues such as refugees.

Text and content of invitation

Following are the main points within the invitation (shortened version):

:October 19, 1991 :On behalf of President Gorbachev and President Bush, we are very pleased to convey the attached invitation... :Sincerely, :James A. Baker, III :Boris Dmitriyevich Pankin :Invitation :...

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

and the

believe that an historic opportunity exists to advance the prospects for genuine peace...The

and the Soviet Union are prepared to assist...a...peace settlement, through direct negotiations along two tracks, between

and the

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

states, and between Israel and the Palestinians, based on United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338... :...the president of the U.S. and the

president of the USSR The president of the Soviet Union (russian: Президент Советского Союза, Prezident Sovetskogo Soyuza), officially the president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (), abbreviated as president of the USSR (), was ...

invite you to a peace conference, which their countries will co-sponsor, followed immediately by direct negotiations...in

on 30 October 1991. : President Bush and President Gorbachev request your acceptance of this invitation... :Direct bilateral negotiations will begin four days after the opening of the conference...those...focus on region-wide issues such as arms control and regional security, water, refugee issues, environment, economic development, and other subjects of mutual interest. :...Governments to be invited include

, Syria,

and

. Palestinians will be invited and attend as part of a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation.

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

will be invited...The

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

will be a participant...The

Gulf Cooperation Council The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf ( ar, مجلس التعاون لدول العربية الخليج ), also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC; ar, مجلس التعاون الخليجي), is a regional, interg ...

will be invited...The United Nations will be invited... :The conference will have no power to impose solutions on the parties or veto agreements reached by them. It will have no authority to make decisions for the parties and no ability to vote on issues or results. The conference can reconvene only with the consent of all the parties. :...negotiations between Israel and Palestinians...will be conducted in phases, beginning with talks on interim self-government...Once agreed the interim self-government arrangements will last for a period of five years...negotiations will take place on permanent status...negotiations between Israel and the Arab states, will take place on the basis of resolutions 242 and 338... :...this process offers the promise of ending decades of confrontation and conflict and the hope of lasting peace...only through such a process can real peace and reconciliation among the Arab states, Israel and the Palestinians be achieved...

Arab–Israeli peace diplomacy and treaties

Paris Peace Conference, 1919 Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Faisal–Weizmann Agreement The Faisal–Weizmann Agreement was a 3 January 1919 agreement between Emir Faisal, the third son of Hussein ibn Ali al-Hashimi, King of the short-lived Kingdom of Hejaz, and Chaim Weizmann, a Zionist leader who had negotiated the 1917 Balfour ...

(1919) *

1949 Armistice Agreements The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt,Camp David Accords (1978) The Camp David Accords were a pair of political agreements signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on 17 September 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David, the country retreat ...

Egypt–Israel peace treaty The Egypt–Israel peace treaty ( ar, معاهدة السلام المصرية الإسرائيلية, Mu`āhadat as-Salām al-Misrīyah al-'Isrā'īlīyah; he, הסכם השלום בין ישראל למצרים, ''Heskem HaShalom Bein Yisrael ...

(1979) *

Madrid Conference of 1991 The Madrid Conference of 1991 was a peace conference, held from 30 October to 1 November 1991 in Madrid, hosted by Spain and co-sponsored by the United States and the Soviet Union. It was an attempt by the international community to revive the ...

* Oslo Accords (1993) *

Israel–Jordan peace treaty The Israel–Jordan peace treaty (formally the "Treaty of Peace Between the State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan"), he, הסכם השלום בין ישראל לירדן; transliterated: ''Heskem Ha-Shalom beyn Yisra'el Le-Yarden'' ...

(1994) *

Camp David 2000 Summit The 2000 Camp David Summit was a summit meeting at Camp David between United States president Bill Clinton, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat. The summit took place between 11 and 25 July 2000 and ...

* Israeli–Palestinian peace process *

Projects working for peace among Israelis and Arabs A project is any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular goal. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of even ...

* List of Middle East peace proposals *

International law and the Arab–Israeli conflict The International law bearing on issues of Arab–Israeli conflict, which became a major arena of regional and international tension since the birth of Israel in 1948, history of the Arab–Israeli conflict, resulting in several disputes between a ...

External links

Invitation to Syria, full textIsrael Ministry of Foreign Affairs, full text
{{DEFAULTSORT:Madrid Peace Conference Letter Of Invitation Israeli–Palestinian peace process Middle East peace efforts Soviet Union–United States relations Soviet Union–Syria relations Israel–Soviet Union relations 1991 documents