The Geneva Conference on the Arab–Israeli conflict opens.

The Geneva Conference of 1973 was an attempt to negotiate a solution to the Arab–Israeli conflict as envisioned in United Nations Security Council Resolution 338 following the called-for cease-fire to end the Yom Kippur War. After considerable "shuttle diplomacy" negotiations by Henry Kissinger, the conference opened on 21 December 1973 under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary General, with the United States and the USSR as co-chairmen. The foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan and Israel were in attendance. The table with Syria's nameplate remained unoccupied, although Syria had indicated possible future participation. Each foreign minister spoke, mainly directed to their domestic audiences rather than to each other. Kissinger articulated his step-by-step strategy and stated that the goal of the conference was peace; the immediate need was to strengthen the cease-fire by accomplishing a disengagement of forces as the "essential first step" toward implementation of UN 242. The meeting was then adjourned.

The Arab–Israeli conflict is a geopolitical phenomenon involving military conflicts and a variety of disputes between Israel and many Arab countries. It is largely rooted in the historically supportive stance of the Arab League towards the Palestinians in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, which, in turn, has been attributed to the simultaneous rise of Zionism and Arab nationalism towards the end of the 19th century, though the two movements did not directly clash until the 1920s. Since the late 20th century, however, direct hostilities of the Arab–Israeli conflict across the Middle East have mostly been attributed to a changing political atmosphere dominated primarily by the Iran–Israel proxy conflict.