Mr. Peres focused his remarks on the many elements that united the people of Israel, chief among them the quest for peace. Even though, he as leader of the opposition in the Knesset, did not always see eye to eye with the government, there were certain issues on which all Israelis stood as one. He stated that while he did not agree with the demands contained in the Sadat speech, he felt that many problems could be resolved in the context of negotiations. Text:
Mr. Speaker, Honourable President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Honourable President of the State of Israel, Members of the Knesset:
I do not speak today in the name of the Opposition, but, rather, in the name of that which unites our People - for, among our People, there is no opposition to peace. Even though we may differ in our conception of the nature of the settlement which is both possible and desirable, there are no differences of opinion among us concerning the urgent need for a peace settlement.
Our Nation is united, Mr. President, as you were undoubtedly able to sense in all of your contacts, in its desire for peace - at long last a total peace, true peace. We are also united in welcoming you to Jerusalem, the city of faith and peace, the city of hope and prayer.
Your coming is seen by us as an innovation, the act of a far-sighted leader. We see the Head of Egypt, the representative of a long and glorious history, marking out a new path for the Arabs and, most of all, an act that must not be squandered in vain.
You have revealed courage in taking the risk of overturning old habits and rigid patterns for a new start and a renewed beginning. In war, too, risks are taken, but their prospects are always bitter. War may have its victors, but they, too, pay a heavy price. And, while the courage required for peace may involve losses, it surely does not involve the loss of life.
Your coming symbolizes such a new beginning. I assure you that we will all try to free ourselves from preconceived notions, in order that we may see things in a new light and against a new background. We will support every step that the Government of Israel takes for the sake of a peace settlement, and we will continue to contribute whatever is within our power to ensure that your visit here will be a true success for our Peoples, for peace.
Mr. President, I listened very attentively to your words. I was not able to agree with their content; not concerning peace - our understanding of peace is different - and not concerning the terms of the settlement. But every negotiation begins with disagreement. We will listen to you, and you will listen to us. It is possible to arrive at a compromise between our two positions, or at a third path which neither you nor we had imagined. It is for this reason that we attribute such great importance to these talks from this rostrum.
As you stand here, on the rostrum of our Knesset, together with the Prime Minister of Israel and before the elected representatives of our State with its Jewish, Moslem, Christian and Druse inhabitants, we feel that a breath-taking moment of opportunity has presented itself in the thrust of history, as hundreds of millions of peace-seeking people Watch us and follow every single minute of this visit.
The eyes of millions of onlookers and of thousands of years of history - both Egyptian history and Jewish history -are focused on this rostrum. We both represent histories which are among the most ancient of the human race; histories that have known confrontation and cooperation, histories drenched in suffering and histories that have known hope. From the peaks of man's most well-known structures - the pyramids - and from the pages of the oldest of man's writings - the Bible - a piercing question beckons our reply: will we have the wisdom to elevate ourselves to the true virtues among life's aspirations, and to free ourselves from the distress of war so that we may enter the expanse of peace, as we have freed ourselves from the yoke of slavery to reach the crest of freedom?
Not only does a distant past bind us, but also a great future. At this very moment, the anxious eyes of millions of Egyptian, Syrian, Jordanian, Palestinian and Jewish mothers are focused on this rostrum in the hope that they may hear us proclaim to them - to them and to their sons - that there will be no more wars, no more threats, no more bereavement, destruction, refugees, and that, from now on, the youth of our nations will have the opportunity of growing up in an atmosphere free of fear, hatred, and disastrous surprise. All are awaiting the tidings that, at long last, wisdom has vanquished enmity, and political art has surpassed military doctrine.
Your very coming has accomplished part of this task. We are here together, speaking to one another and, even without resolving the differences of opinion between us, your coming has created an opportunity that did not exist previously. And, if we will succeed in devoting to the issues of peace even part of the energies which we have devoted until now to military issues, then your visit will be remembered forever as the beginning we have all awaited.
Members of the Knesset, for thirty years we have awaited this moment, this visit. We have always believed that face-to-face meeting between the leaders of our Nations would present the conditions for fruitful talks and for a momentum that would bring peace; peace, Mr. President, not only between the upper echelons of our societies, but also at the grass roots level -between statesmen, poets, workers, academicians - between children and adults, among all of us - in life, in books and in work.
The Prime Minister spoke of it. Every Prime Minister who preceded him spoke in support of this approach. David Ben-Gurion said:
"There is no conflict between us and the Egyptian People; we do not want the anarchy in our relations with Egypt to persist, and we are prepared to negotiate for a stable peace, cooperation and neighbourly relations, providing that there be direct negotiations without any preconditions, without coercion from any side."
Sharett and Eshkol repeated the hope that it would be possible:
"... to renew the glorious days in which Jews and Arabs together contributed to human civilization."
And, may she be blessed with many more years among us, Mrs. Meir said:
"I appeal to the President of Egypt as to the President of a great People, with the proposal that we meet as equals and make a common and supreme effort to arrive at a solution to all the outstanding problems between us."
And Mr. Yitzhak Rabin declared:
"I announce my readiness to meet with any Arab Head of Government at any time, in anyplace, for peace talks."
Since 1973, we have found solutions which none of us had expected in advance. With the mediation of our friends the Americans, we agreed to sign, as you mentioned, two settlements: the interim settlement of 1974 and the settlement toward a settlement of 1975. These settlements were both criticized in their time. It was argued that Israel was making tangible concessions - a retreat from territories which seemed vital to her; whereas Egypt and Syria were making concessions which were fundamentally political - an assurance of calm in the area, a rehabilitation of certain regions, an intangible commitment to advance toward peace.
We could not have signed these agreements had we not chosen to believe that, indeed, Egypt - the President of Egypt and the Egyptian People - basically sought peace.
Peace can only be achieved if negotiation attempts are given an honest chance. Patience is also required, and let us not forget that. The expectations of many citizens in both States must be answered. We must compromise, somewhat, in terms of both the price of security and the danger of war, for the sake of the exaltation of man, the improvement of society, the development of agriculture, the expansion of industry, the progress of science and the raising of the standard of living of every citizen.
We have preferred, just as you have preferred, the proposals of the United States, as these were carried back and forth in the shuttle plane, to the threatening involvement of the Soviet Union, which could have contributed to peace, but chose to contribute to war.
Your coming here renders yesterday's procedures and modes of discussion inadequate and outdated. And the assurance that everything is negotiable accords your visit substantial, powerful and immediate importance. Our readiness to discuss your proposals in good faith brings the prospect of finding appropriate solutions closer to fruition. Each of us will voice his views, and we will together search for a fair compromise.
I speak in the name of the Israel Labour Movement - a movement which, from its inception until this very day, has never ceased to believe in peace, in good human relations among workers on the home front, as well as among the Peoples of the region. I am convinced that the socialist movements in the world and, among them, certainly also the Egyptian Socialist Union, represent not only the professional or upper classes, but also popular movements, which believe that welfare of the worker can only be safeguarded by a high moral standard in his society. And neither are they only national movements, but universal in outlook. They champion a humane and democratic socialism that has sworn to liberate man from coercion, from exploitation and discrimination; to free the nations from subservience and enmity. All efforts must be in accord with that aim - the dignity of man, the justness of his society, world peace.
From this rostrum we must tell one another, without circuitousness or deceit, what are the actual steps we now must take for the sake of peace. In addition to each of us voicing his view, and without disqualifying any method and any means that might lead to peace whether it be a gradual or a step-by step approach, with one country at a time or with a number of countries together, or in one large comprehensive step - the goal must be permanent peace, total peace with all and among all with Ambassadors, with diplomatic, economic and commercial relations, as is customary among nations living together in a region.
Such peace must be based on direct relations between the Arab Peoples and the Jewish People, without any external buffers, without dependence on foreigners, without partitions imported from abroad. We must relate to each other as neighbours, as one citizen living alongside his fellow, similar to the pattern existing among the European Nations as, for example, among the Scandinavian countries which knew prolonged enmity, yet have arrived at a high level of cooperation without obscuring their separate identities.
Each and every Nation, Mr. President, will determine its own rights and will be free to express its own identity - to pray to its God, to educate its children in the spirit of its heritage, to express its opinion, to move freely, to maintain contact with other members of its People, to honour human equality, to respect the differences among collectivities of people, to refrain from turning equality into privilege and difference into violence.
There is no escaping the fact that peace must be based on mutual compromise, in contrast to war, which is built on a one-sided decision. We will support a true and honourable compromise, and will not demand that any side compromise its ability to defend itself.
We have announced that we are prepared for territorial compromise with every one of the Arab States, so long as this does not endanger our security, just as our neighbours would not want their security threatened. What we shall gain in the realm of peace, we shall all be able to save in the realm of security. This is important, for we do not seek the involvement of foreign forces in our region. We have rejected such forces in difficult times for us, and we do not seek them in a period in which - as I believe - the chances for peace have increased.
Peace must create recognized and permanent boundaries; it must also bring a solution to the refugee problem - and there are refugees on both sides. About a third of Israel's inhabitants came from Arab countries. They are not refugees; they are citizens in every respect. About half of the Palestinians live in the area between the Jordan and the Mediterranean - most are citizens; some are refugees. With joint efforts, we can elevate them all to a new standard of living, to a new life in which there no longer are refugees, or refugee status, but all are citizens living a normal life in every way.
We are prepared to advance towards peace by virtue of any agreed settlement - with each State separately or with all the neighbouring States at the same time. We acknowledge Egypt's senior status and leadership role in the Arab world and throughout the region, and peace can ultimately be based on a progressive union among the nations of the region, and not cast as a wedge separating them. The types of alliance which gave birth to enmity must be exchanged for a new unity that will give rise to peace.
As far as can be seen, Mr. President, there is no justification, no shadow of a reason, to maintain any conflict whatsoever between us and Egypt. We are convinced that it is within out power to settle outstanding points of dispute, and what appear to be points of dispute, within a reasonable period of time. The enmity between us was a prolonged error; the settlement between us is within reach.
There is no basis for any conflict between us and Jordan. We have experienced the taste of Jordanian shells, but we have also experienced the taste of the Open Bridges. We regret those shells, but we are also certain that orderly peace journey on the Open Bridges can pass without mishap.
We are prepared to conduct negotiations for a permanent peace with the Syrians. It is also possible to arrive at a speedy peace settlement with Lebanon.
Nor do we deny the existence of a Palestinian identity. Every People can decide on its own identity, and this is not subject to the approval of any other People. But, whatever expression of the Palestinian identity may be found, it must not endanger the security of Israel - I might add, or of Jordan, though that is not my business - and the world has already seen how enlightened nations have solved the problem of different identities dwelling together, plowing adjoining parcels of land, without bitterness, through coexistence in peace, each with its own leadership directing its affairs in responsible, stable, political frameworks.
In dealing with the holy places, economic needs and matters of security, maximal open-mindedness is required. No border must prevent access to the holy places, and no political map can be allowed to disrupt economic interchange, just as no security requirement can be permitted to interfere in the spiritual heritage of everyone among our Peoples.
The peace negotiations can be conducted in any place, at any time, in any form. They can be conducted in Geneva, in Cairo or in Jerusalem. They can be open or secret; they can be completely direct or can involve the participation of certain designated states; they can be intensive or gradual; but the one thing that must not happen - they must not fail.
Mr. President, we are very proud of our achievements in Israel. History was gracious to the Egyptian People, and they were not exiled from their land. History was cruel to us, and we knew dispersion and calumny and Holocaust. We maintained ourselves by the power of prayer, by our longing and our love of Zion. Today you are an exalted and esteemed guest on the soil of our Resurrection.
We greatly respect the revival, indeed the revolution and great independence that you and the members of your generation have brought to the Egyptian People and to the Arab world.
The rebirth and the revival awakened hidden energies which we had thought had already become dissipated and latent over the long years. But much energy was also wasted in the friction of enmity between our two Peoples. Let us break this vicious circle, and reunite our forces, even as each of us remains faithful to his path, to his nationality and to his dream. Let us cooperate and together convert this area into the most fertile region in the world, and create a more affluent society than this region has ever known. In the words of the prophet Jeremiah, spoken 2500 years ago:
"You shall not see sword, neither shall you have hunger, for true peace shall I give to you.
You covered the distance from Ismailia to Lod in less than an hour. When you left, we did not know how we would meet. Now that you have arrived, however, it is already difficult to recall one such hour, during which, before the eyes of the entire world, the distance has withered away and the abyss has almost vanished. This is a beautiful hour in the lives of us all. We sense that this is a great hour that must become an hour of truth: We will have to forfeit things which are important to us, and you, Mr. President, will have to forfeit things which are important to you, if we are to meet on any common ground. whatsoever, on which it is possible to build peace.
The long and bitter years of enmity ensnared us all. There is no issue between Israel and Egypt that is not solvable in peace discussions, and we shall all do what is necessary to ensure that your mission of peace - this dramatic, daring mission which we have long awaited - will, in the end, bear fruit, and that history will record this hour as the hour of a new beginning, an hour in which the count-down to peace began. Would that a fine hour common to all of us in the Middle East begin now. We will establish unity for peace, for peace unites us all.