No, it was not just “another Middle East peace conference”, as a columnist in the Israeli Jerusalem Post attempted to depict the Paris Peace Conference held on January 15, with top official representations from 70 countries attending.

If it had been, indeed, just “another peace conference”, representatives from the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority would have attended as well.

Instead, it was a defining moment that we are likely to remember: as the one that has officially ended the peace process charade after 25 years.

In fact, if the Madrid Conference of October 1991 was the vibrant official start of peace talks between Israel and its Arab — including Palestinian — neighbours, the Paris talks of January 2017 was the sad termination of it.

As soon as the Madrid talks began, the positive energy and expectations that accompanied them began to fade. Even before the talks began, Israel had set political traps and erected obstacles.

For example, refusing to deal directly with the Palestinian negotiations team led by the late Haidar Abdul-Shafi (since, as far as Israel was concerned, Palestinians did not exist), and even protesting that negotiator, Saeb Erekat, was wearing the traditional Palestinian headscarf (kufiyah).

It has been 25 years since that initial meeting.