ABSTRACT
Jerusalem is one of the Israeli-Palestinian core issues not only in fighting but also in seeking for a political settlement. Hereafter I relate to the peace process as talks in which rivals negotiate over a comprehensive formal peace treaty. Thus, I do not discuss cease-fire agreements, oral understandings or partial or interim agreements. Neither do I include in this chapter track two talks (i.e., unauthorized informal talks between civil society representatives). My aim is to look into the status of Jerusalem first in the Israeli-Jordanian peace talks from 1949 until 1994, which ended successfully with a peace accord. Second, I discuss the Israel-PLO failed negotiations between the years 1999–2008. Although the question of Jerusalem is still one of the major – if not the main – obstacles in their peace talks, Israel and the PLO made good progress and came closer.
