Rabin and Arafat Shake Hands as Oslo Declaration Is Signed

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat shook hands before cheering crowds on the White House lawn on 13 September 1993, marking the signing of a Declaration of Principles negotiated secretly in Norway. It was the first public handshake between the former enemies, and the document set out interim Palestinian self-rule. The Oslo framework promised peace in stages, the template for every later Israeli-Palestinian process.