A day after the suspension of the talks, Mr. Rabin explained in a press conference that while Israel was willing to cede territory in return for a full agreement on nonbelligerency, Egypt was not willing to make any meaningful political concessions. Israel felt that would be a one-sided withdrawal and not a step towards peace and could not accept it. Text of the Premier's opening statement:
Prime Minister Rabin: ... The activity of Secretary of State, Dr. Kissinger has been suspended. For many months, and especially in the last two weeks efforts have been directed to bring about an interim settlement that will serve as another step towards peace. The purpose of this agreement had on the one hand, for Israel, a withdrawal from a limited area; on the other hand, to move from the present situation towards peace.
Israel has proposed two options by which to conclude positively such an agreement. Option one is for the end of state of war, Israel was ready to evacuate all the area between the present line and beyond, east of the passes, and to evacuate the area still south of the oil fields in Abu Rodeis and the area. We did not specify any specific line. We were ready to negotiate it. We believed that for giving back the strategic passes, on the one hand, and the oil fields that at the present supply Israel with almost half of our oil consumption, we are entitled to have a statement of end of the state of war. This proposal was rejected by Egypt.
Then Israel came with another proposal, for a more limited agreement, limited in the territorial giving back, and also limited in what we have asked from Egypt in return. We were ready to evacuate the area from the present line till the middle of the Passes, or even a little bit more than that, to evacuate the oil fields and to hand them back to Egypt. But we expected not only general statements about the readiness to limit the use of force. We expected certain practical expressions on the part of the Egyptians that will convince us that we are at the beginning of a process of movement towards peace, such as free movement, let's say for tourists from Egypt to the area which is held by Israel and to Israel, easing in a practical way the boycott, reduction of hostile propaganda, because after all if we are moving towards peace it has to be first step and second to be done in some symbolic way at least.
We wanted the agreement, therefore, to be considered as a political agreement or at least to have an element of political agreement. They considered it to be a pure military agreement, another phase in the disengagement of forces.
We wanted to create at least some possibilities of contacts between Egyptians and Israelis. We don't believe that you can start peace while people on both sides are not entitled to talk to the other. They agreed to some sort of a committee that will be related to the unit and will be composed only of military people. They did not agree to combine teams to supervise the new buffer zone.
We also wanted that the agreement will have a duration that will allow to ease the tension, to create conditions that positive processes will start in the direction of peace, even though they might be very limited. They agreed basically to the extension of the unit from half a year to one year and it has to be reviewed annually by the Security Council of the United Nations and you could imagine that there might be powers that might use their veto right to prevent is extension. Therefore, we couldn't accept the Egyptian position that basically wanted what we offered for the end of the state of war for something which is much less, that does not contain any element of a beginning of a real peacemaking process. The Egyptians rejected our proposals. As a result of it, the present efforts have been suspended.
From the very beginning we saw in the steps procedure towards peace that each step must produce some movement towards peace. Unfortunately, this is not what the Egyptians had in mind.
Israel will continue to seek every possibility, to use every option to move towards peace. Israel will tolerate, will maintain the disengagement agreements, the ceasefire agreements, on a mutual basis, and I hope that other ways, -other options might be a renewal of the present effort, will be ahead of us, and the effort to move the area from war to peace will be continued.
I would like also to pay special tribute to the United States Government, to the President, to the Secretary of State. I believe that the Government of the United States has tried very hard, very much to help the parties to move towards peace. I believe many efforts have been made by the President of the United States, by the Secretary of State, to facilitate to the parties to move towards peace. Israel owes a lot to the United States, for its friendship, for its help, and we continue to owe very much to this great democracy. I would like to pay special tribute to President Ford, to the Secretary of State, for their unbelievable efforts, for the risks they have taken, in trying to move the area towards peace.