University for Senior Citizens

In September 1993, it became clear to the world that Norway had secretly negotiated the Oslo Accords. A narrative quickly developed portraying Norway as a peace broker and mediator. But what had Norwegians actually done?

Israel was the stronger party. The Norwegian negotiators had little choice but to accept Israel’s terms, which they did. Norway had not acted as a neutral or impartial facilitator. The Epstein revelations have further shed light on Norway’s role, and not least on the missing documents found by Økokrim in a cellar storage unit belonging to Terje Rød-Larsen and Mona Juul.

Hilde Henriksen Waage is Professor of History at the University of Oslo and senior researcher at Peace Research Institute Oslo. She holds a PhD from the University of Oslo (1997). She has published numerous books and articles nationally and internationally on Norway’s relations with Israel, various peace efforts in the Middle East, and the causes of the conflict between Israel, the Palestinians, and neighbouring Arab states.

She received the Sverre Steen Prize in 2013 for outstanding historical communication for the book Conflict and Great Power Politics in the Middle East (Cappelen Damm Akademisk, 2013). In 2022 she published The Game of Syria (Cappelen Damm Akademisk, 2022). She frequently comments on Middle Eastern conflicts in both Norwegian and international media and is a widely used lecturer.

Fritt Ord Prize was awarded to Hilde Henriksen Waage in April 2026.

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Non-members: NOK 100 per lecture

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