Called the intifada, the revolt lasts six years and prompts a new search for peace. In secret talks in Oslo, Norway, Israel and the PLO produce an interim framework accord for autonomy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In first stage, Israel pulls out of most of the Gaza Strip and the Jericho area of the West Bank. Jordan and Israel sign peace treaty calling for close economic and political cooperation. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin assassinated by a Jewish extremist opposed to principal of trading land for peace.
Peace process slows.
The first census taken in Israel in 1948 counted a total population of 716,700, including 156,000 non-Jews, mostly Arabs. By 1998, it was 5.8 million, including more than 800,000 Arabs. They inhabit a territory a bit smaller than Maryland. Tensions exist among secular, observant and orthodox Jews. Thirteen parties are represented in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, which is one of the most contentious chambers anywhere.