Jerusalem, 13 January 1998
PM NETANYAHU: ISRAEL FULFILLS ALL ITS COMMITMENTS AND EXPECTS PA TO DO THE
SAME
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in his office today (Tuesday),
13.1.98, with former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz. At the start
of the meeting, the prime minister addressed political matters, in the
wake of today's cabinet meeting:
"The cabinet's decision is not an ultimatum. It is a question of honoring
the Note for the Record in the Hebron Agreement. We are very specific: in
the agreement there are Israeli commitments, Palestinian commitments and
issues which are subject to further negotiation. We are fulfilling all of
our commitments and we expect that the Palestinians will fulfill theirs.
Among Israel's commitments, which the Palestinians expect to be fulfilled,
is the redeployment, and we are saying that if they uphold their
commitments there will be no doubt that we will move forward with the
redeployment. After all, the accord is not some sort of pseudo-agreement,
it is the basis for all the Oslo agreements. Why have they not canceled
the Palestinian Charter? Why, at a time when we are in the midst of a
peace agreement with the Palestinian people, does its leadership still
have a document which calls for our destruction? These are very basic and
natural expectations for which the State of Israel received assurances
when the Oslo Accord was signed, and the time has come for them to be
realized."
The prime minister added: "We seek peace. This is the only government that
can bring a final status agreement which will give us the foundations of
security and the other interests which are vital to us. This is the only
government that can bring peace with the Palestinians while preserving the
internal peace within the State of Israel. That is our intention, that is
what our discussions are about and that is also what the decisions that we
make will be about. To this end, I will also be going to the United
States. This government will march forward according to its policy."
Prime Minister Netanyahu and Mr. Shultz exchanged views on political and
economic matters, and Mr. Shultz a professor of economics and a former
American secretary of labor expressed support
for the prime minister's
economic and privatization policies.