Secret 1993 Peres-Hussein Meeting Paved Way for Peace

Sometimes the most important moments in history happen behind closed doors, and newly revealed documents prove just how much two leaders were willing to risk for peace.

In November 1993, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres secretly met with Jordan's King Hussein at the royal palace in Amman. Peres even altered his appearance to avoid identification as he entered the building.

The Peres Center for Peace and Innovation released meeting minutes this week, offering a rare glimpse into the personal urgency both leaders felt. King Hussein's words were startlingly direct.

"Perhaps I have only a year or two left; I will put everything on the line," the king told Peres during their conversation. He was referring to making peace happen before time ran out.

The meeting didn't come from nowhere. Israel and Jordan had maintained secret contacts for years, but this discussion took their relationship to a new level.

Hussein praised Peres as a creative thinker and outlined his vision with remarkable candor. "I want to bequeath to the future the best possible legacy," he said, reflecting on his grandfather King Abdullah I's 1951 assassination.

Peres presented ambitious plans for regional cooperation including shared infrastructure, ports, aviation, and roads. Both men understood they were working against the clock.

"History is like a galloping horse. Either you get on it, or you get off, and the horse will continue galloping without you," Hussein explained, emphasizing their limited window.

The foreign minister reassured the king that he and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin were completely aligned. "We are trying to pull the wagon of peace together," Peres said.

Young people throughout the region were "fed up with wars, poverty and the absence of freedom," Peres noted. Public support for peace had never been stronger.

The Ripple Effect

That secret November meeting produced an informal memorandum of understanding between the two leaders. Less than a year later, in October 1994, Israel and Jordan signed their official peace treaty in the Arava.

The agreement became one of the foundations of Israel's regional relationships for more than three decades. It has endured through periods of crisis and tension, proving the staying power of what Peres and Hussein built.

"When the gaps narrow, the fears will fade, hopes will grow for all the children of Abraham, and the time has come for that to happen," Hussein said that night in Amman.

Chemi Peres, chairman of the Peres Center and Shimon's son, reflected on the documents' release. "The secret meeting reflected Peres's worldview, a man of vision who believed in our ability to change reality."

Two leaders who understood their mortality chose to spend their remaining time building bridges instead of walls, and generations have benefited from their courage.