In his statement, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry refuted the allegations of the State Department spokesman regarding Israel's negotiating position and quoted the Prime Minister who declared, on 23 June 1977, that "everything is negotiable."
Commenting today on the U.S. State Department Spokesman's statement on 27 June, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that there was no foundation for the assumption implied by the Washington spokesman's statement, as though Israel had excluded any territory whatsoever from the framework of the expected discussion with the Arab states. The spokesman stressed that, in accordance with the Government's basic policy guidelines, and the Knesset's resolution - every issue was negotiable.
In this connection, the Foreign Ministry Spokesman drew attention to the Prime Minister's statement at the Zionist Executive Council's meeting in Jerusalem on 23.6.77, as follows:
"We do not propound any ultimative demand. The words 'non-negotiable' are not found in any dictionary of ours. Everything is negotiable. The negotiation, however, must be free. As was stated in the U.S. Democratic Party's Platform: 'without any externally devised formula for settlement'."
The Foreign Ministry Spokesman went on to note that the other issues mentioned in the U.S. State Department Spokesman's statement, such as definition of the nature of peace, were slated for the discussion between the Prime Minister of Israel and the U.S. President, that will be held in the course of Mr. Begin's visit to the U.S. - and eventually, for negotiation between Israel and its neighbours, in the framework of peace-settlement discussions.