JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE BY
MR. ELYAKIM RUBINSTEIN, HEAD OF THE ISRAELI DELEGATION
AND DR. FAYEZ TARAWNEH, HEAD OF THE JORDANIAN DELEGATION
EIN AVRONA, JULY 18, 1994
MR. RUBINSTEIN: Good afternoon. We apologize for the inconvenient
conditions.
First let me express regrets about the tragedy that, as we hear,
happened today in Buenos Aires, where a major building has reportedly
been bombed and a number of people hurt, probably related to the
Jewish community there. The tragedy as reported is great, and it is
of course a source of agony for us.
Let me move to describe briefly our talks today. It has been a good
day in the Israeli-Jordanian negotiations. You have witnessed the
opening ceremony and statements. After a short plenary of
introduction, we split into three major sub-commissions, which have
done their work during the day and will continue to do it tomorrow.
Their subjects reflect the main issues on our bilateral agenda here
and now: the committee on security, headed by General Dayan on our
side and General Shurdum on the Jordanian side; the sub-commission on
boundaries, headed by Mr. Kohanovsky on our side and Dr. Toukan on
the Jordanian side; and the sub-commission on water, environment and
related issues which include energy, headed by Mr. Kinarti on our
side and Dr. Haddadin on the Jordanian side.
The three sub-commissions worked in a very good atmosphere. This is
definitely something which has characterized our negotiations all the
time. I would say it is even more so here. The negotiations now are
concentrating around the issues that will guide our work in the next
period, hopefully to be continuous and fruitful. We will be able,
hopefully, to announce the concrete results of the work of the sub-
commissions and of our plenary commission tomorrow. Let me only say
that we definitely feel that in each of the sub-commissions work has
been done.
Both sides also reflect a wish, which is also of course expressed by
the meetings to take place in the next few days at the Foreign
Minister and Prime Minister level, with the Secretary of State. That
is the Majali-Peres-Christopher meeting on Wednesday, and of course
the summit in Washington next Monday. We all feel the mission of
paving the road for those meetings and for our future relationship.
It may sound very general, but I think it reflects what we can't say
today, we will be say more hopefully tomorrow.
DR. TARAWNEH: Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen: We had a
very serious day this morning and a very positive one, I would say,
inspired by this location here and on site. Hopefully this will also
inspire us to be more fruitful in tomorrow's deliberations.
I don't want to repeat what my colleague Ambassador Rubinstein has
already said about the modalities and the discussions. I just want to
reiterate that the three sub-commissions took the terms of reference
of each sub-commission in terms of the sub-agendas that they have
of course the directive is the Common Agenda that we have and they
went into details as much as possible. Of course, we had just hours
to do that. We don't expect to finalize the items, because the
details and monumental. But in the spirit that we had today, I am
optimistic that tomorrow we will be in a better position to have a
full-fledged press conference with announcements, and that is my hope
to be able to do it tomorrow.
Definitely we are on the right track, I would say, and we have the
responsibility, as Ambassador Rubinstein has said, of paving the way
first to our deliberations on all the details that we have, not
only on the sub-commissions that we have but also on the totality of
the items of the Common Agenda; and also, hopefully, we will reach
common understanding on these issues, on all the details. Of course
we will be together engaging in the more important responsibilities
in the coming meetings on the 20th and on the 25th.
So hopefully tomorrow will be another fruitful day, another positive
one, in the same spirit, with the same commitment to the peace
process which we are both committed to. We hope that we will come
back to you tomorrow and announce something that is fruitful.
Thank you.
Q: Mr. Rubinstein, after a long day of talks in such a hot weather,
would you please tell us, does Israel admit it occupied Jordanian
land?
MR. RUBINSTEIN: We have agreed in our Common Agenda agreement and in
an additional agreement this year to negotiate, delimit and demarcate
the boundary between the two countries. As was said before, this is a
task which requires a lot of hard work, a lot of, as my friend
Ambassador Tarawneh said in a general way, monumental details which
are connected with the survey of the boundary area, the delimitation
and demarcation of the boundary. This boundary, except for a very
small portion of it, has never been demarcated or delimited per our
knowledge. I said today in my opening statement that while we have
reference to Mandatory definition, there is no living or any other
person on earth who could say exactly where the location of the
boundary is. So it is a task which we undertook together in the
spirit of peace. We are working on this boundary, we will do this
work. It will not be an "instant coffee" activity. It will take time
in terms of what is needed, but in good faith by both sides which has
been reflected today in the deliberation of the sub-commission on
boundary. We will do it.
Q: You didn't answer the question is Israel occupying Jordanian land.
MR. RUBINSTEIN: What I said was very clear. I said: Israel and Jordan
are going to delimit and demarcate their international boundary
together.
Q: (inaudible)
DR. TARAWNEH: People keep raising this question all the time. We are
engaged here in serious negotiations. As I said, we have a lot of
modalities at hand. The whole structure is now more clear as far as
our track is concerned. We have a Common Agenda that has been signed
in Washington, we have sub-agendas on all the important items of this
Common Agenda. We still have, of course, other items that will be
negotiated at the point of time. All our discussions will be within a
context of the treaty of peace. This question is irrelevant at this
point of time.
As a matter of fact, I just want to elaborate on the question that
has been raised earlier. Of course, we were able to agree on the
terms of reference on the issue of the borders and the territorial
matters. There is a territorial dimension in our negotiations. Of
course, we have demanded, as our point of reference, portions of the
borders that have been delineated previously, not demarcated maybe.
But we are here in the process of sorting out and finalizing this
particular item as an integral part of the Common Agenda. Of course,
we have to look at the interdependencies of all the items on the
agenda. Specifically, yes, we see that we have Jordanian occupied
territories, that the territorial dimension is an issue in the
negotiations, and that is related also to the boundary, and we want
to sort this out during the negotiations.
Q: Since you are discussing the boundaries' demarcation, can we
understand that the concept of "Greater Israel" is no more, is over?
MR. RUBINSTEIN: I really don't know to what you refer in this
context. Israel is a neighbor of Jordan, and Jordan is a neighbor of
Israel. The two countries have expressed the wish to achieve a treaty
of peace. A treaty of peace must include all kinds of items which we
want to negotiate in good faith and in a good spirit that is
connected to that. Some of them are the issues that we have mentioned
today, like the boundary, water, security. Some other issues, as I
mentioned in my opening statement in the morning, bilateral economic
relations, diplomatic relations, and all of that. This is what is on
our plate. The boundary is one of those subjects, and two neighboring
countries must have a boundary. This was on our agenda from the very
beginning, and it is there now. This is one item out of many items,
and we will negotiate this item and parallelly all the other items.
They will all be packaged into the treaty of peace. I frankly, with
respect, don't see any relevance between the question or the
definition that you posed and between this subject.
Q: In light of what happened today in Buenos Aires, what is the
position of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on terrorist activities
such as this one?
DR. TARAWNEH: We are categorically against any aggression, especially
when it is directed to innocent people. This is the firm position of
Jordan, the long-standing position of Jordan. No one can accept such
acts, and especially we are in a position here. We have been today
engaged, at least, and since the Madrid Conference which was two and
a half years now, we have been engaged in peace negotiations, and
this is basically what we are trying to avoid in our region here, and
that's what we want: basically, the peace in our region to spill over
all over the world, the world at large, and we are again
categorically against any aggression against innocent people.
Q: Mr. Rubinstein, I would like you please to clarify why you were
mentioned that in your opening speech, and it was only the beginning
of the meeting, concerning both the demarcation and the water.
Because you are not mentioning anything about the Jordanian rights
since 1967. Second, you are not mentioning anything about any kind of
maps that we can use from Britain.
MR. RUBINSTEIN: The opening statement was a positive opening for a
positive negotiation. It was not aimed to be the catalogue of every
detail in the negotiations maps or this or that part of any item
on our Common Agenda, on the negotiations. The aim of an opening
statement like, and I would like to hope that it was received in the
spirit in which it was written and in which it was submitted, the aim
of such an opening statement is to give the general lines of the
policy of the State of Israel, its view of the negotiations with
Jordan, which it sees as a central part of its peace policy, the main
items which should be negotiated, etc. What you, with all respect,
were referring to, and I of course respect what you had to say, are
details which may be accurate or may be inaccurate on the items in
the negotiating room. This we should leave for the negotiation.
Let me add just for a minute on what my friend Dr. Tarawneh said
about terrorism. I would only like to mention that in our basic
Common Agenda agreement, in the security article, there is a specific
reference to our common opposition to all kinds of terrorism.
Q: Dr. Tarawneh, since some of the areas claimed by Jordan are
settled by Israelis, is there any place or will Jordan be willing to
trade land for land?
DR. TARAWNEH: First of all, this is Jordanian territories, and it
should be settled as it is. There is no trade-off here at all.
Q: Mr. Rubinstein, as we sit here in the hot weather and we see the
nice minted water in front of you, we are constantly reminded of the
acute water shortages that we live under in Jordan. With that in
mind, is Israel willing to recognize Jordan's rights to the water it
lost during the last, say 40 years, due to overpumping by Israel from
the River Jordan?
MR. RUBINSTEIN: Again, just reminding you that our agreements so far
have mentioned that both sides will enjoy their rightful shares of
the water of the rivers and other resources along the boundary, and
also work to develop new water resources. It is, of course, a
subjective approach, or an approach which you may have, the way you
described it. Our approach is and we want to do it amicably and
cordially, and in fact we have been in an amicable and cordial way
talking to our Jordanian colleagues, the water experts, over the last
few years we are willing to listen to any idea, we are willing to
offer new ideas, and we will settle the water issue.
But let me underline again things that have been said. The two
countries are developing rapidly. What was true for both of them 40
years ago, 30 years ago, 20 years ago, 10 years ago, is not true any
more now. The demands are different, the situation of industry, the
urban situation all of that requires, besides the allocation of
existing resources, a lot, a lot of creativity in terms of new
resources through desalination, through catching waters that are
being wasted, flood waters, etc., through cleaning water resources
which have been affected. This is also part of our challenge.
Just on the formal question that comes out all the time, the idea of
the territorial issues, and that is legitimate, let me just say that,
so far, we have read about the Jordanian substantial position in the
territorial dispute in the media and so on. We are in the
negotiations. Like our Jordanian colleagues will expect to hear what
our views are, we will expect to hear what their views are. We hear
the ideas of territories, occupied territories. So far, as far as we
are concerned, and I am saying it in the most frank way, we have read
about it in the media, in the newspapers. We know that you have
territorial wishes and ideas concerning the boundary, we respect
that. We have our own ideas. This will be negotiated.
I would say: Please, wait with the conclusions to the negotiations. I
am sure this is workable. The two countries want peace. The two
leaderships want peace. The two countries want to proceed quickly.
The two leaderships want to proceed quickly. Give the negotiations
the appropriate chance and time. They will, God willing, be achieved.
Q: When do you think it will possible for Israelis to go and visit
Petra?
DR. TARAWNEH: This is our hope from the whole exercise. We are here
to sort our problems out the roots of the conflict. We already
specified and identified all the areas of conflict, which has been
with us for the last 47 years or so and even maybe from the beginning
of the century. This is a very serious, extremely serious process.
Basically, the name of the process is a just, lasting and
comprehensive peace in the whole region. We are part of the region,
an important part of the region, and hopefully progress on our track
will spill over positiveness and the same attitude on all tracks, so
that we will have the comprehensiveness of the peace process. Then,
as we culminate the whole process in a treaty of peace, after we
clarify and be sure that no further sources of friction or
hostilities remain, and we have to be very very careful on this to
clarify each and every item that we have on the agendas, on the
common agendas, or even if it raised, we have to tackle all the
issues and to make it as clear and to have the common understanding
on all this, put them in agreements, and then culminate them in a
treaty of peace then people can go to Petra and to wherever.
Q: Do you expect to be able to conclude your negotiations, if you all
work very hard? This is a question to both heads of delegations. Can
we expect you to conclude, in that case, in a time of one month, two
months, or do you think it may take even longer?
DR. TARAWNEH: We are working extremely hard, that we can assure you.
But when we will finish, as always, I tell my colleague, it all
depends on Ambassador Rubinstein.
MR. RUBINSTEIN: This is a surprise. All I can say is that we, from
our point of view, are extremely eager to finalize the negotiations
in a treaty of peace as soon as possible. From our point of view,
it's a matter I assume of months, but the moment we are through with
our negotiations, it can be done in hard in a reasonably short
period, although not very short in terms of the details. We are ready
the same very day to sign the treaty of peace. It will be up to our
Jordanian colleagues to join us and give us a hand for that.
Q: Ambassador Tarawneh, an invitation has been extended to King
Hussein to visit Jerusalem, and to my best knowledge it hasn't been
met so far. Can we expect the King to visit Jerusalem before the end,
of '94 as one of his close friends indicated? And secondly, can we
foresee, of the summit in Washington goes well, a gradual
normalization of relations between the two countries, in accordance
to the achievements that you will make in your negotiations?
DR. TARAWNEH: It seems that most of the questions are on
expectations, and we are not here to really voice expectations. First
of all, we are approaching the peace process in a very pragmatic and
practical manner, and looking at the issues at hand, looking at the
legalities, the politics involved in it, the economics involved in it
and the social dimension, the human dimension, whatever. Now, as we
proceed, and we are progressing basically now we moved from
Washington to the region; in two days' time there will be meetings on
the foreign ministerial level, and then on the 25th there will be
even a higher level of meetings. Let us not jump into expectations
1994, 1995, whatever. What we want to be and want to assure you, that
we are very serious in this. If it takes us one month or two years,
the most important thing is to really tackle all the issues. This
negotiation is not, and I underscore the word not, subject to the two
negotiating teams here. Because we have our political leaders and we
have the Jordanian position, the Israeli position, and we have to
narrow gaps in the process. I cannot give you expectations on when we
finish we finish when we do. What I can say is the things that I
know of and everybody knows, that we will have a meeting on the 25th
in Washington for His Majesty and Prime Minister Rabin.
Q: Dr. Rubinstein, since one of the main issues to be discussed by
the committees is security, what kind of stand can we expect from
Israel regarding the recent request by His Majesty King Hussein from
Washington for weapons in the region for security? And would Israel
try to affect the quantity and the type of weapons to enter the
region?
MR. RUBINSTEIN: I wouldn't like to go into the relationship between
Jordan, a country which we work with and we respect we have great
respect for His Majesty and the United States, which is a country
which we are allied with and which we respect very much. I think that
the next week will witness a meeting in Washington of our Prime
Minister with His Majesty King Hussein with President Clinton, the
host. There will be also a joint session of Congress which they will
both address. I think we should leave the U.S. and Jordanian
relations to the two countries, as we would like our relations with
any country, including the United States, to be left to the bilateral
comment.
let me also thank all our administrative people and the liaison
military people for all their work today. This has been a very
important mission and a very difficult one to perform, and I am sure
I am
also reflecting my friend Ambassador Tarawneh's view in thanking
them all.
DR. TARAWNEH: I do associate myself with this conclusion, and thank
you very much.