The third round of talks was held in Herzliya and was attended by the Prime Minister of Egypt, Dr. Mustafa Khalil, who led his country's delegation. Israeli, Egyptian & American officials expressed the hope that substantial progress could be made in this round, after the previous session in Alexandria was devoted largely to procedural matters. Text:
STATEMENT BY ISRAELI MINISTER, DR. JOSEPH BURG, AT THIS MORNING'S OPENING SESSION OF THE AUTONOMY TALKS
Shalom U'vracha. It is my distinct pleasure to greet you here in these lovely surroundings on behalf of the Israeli delegation. Mr. Prime Minister, Dr. Khalil, I hope, as your host here today, that your stay and our common endeavor will be fruitful. Another step in the right direction is -always a good thing. May I take this opportunity to congratulate you on your election and reappointment as Prime Minister of the Arab Republic of Egypt and on the reinstatement of the Egyptian Government. These good wishes are similarly expressed to the Minister of Defence, General Ali, and the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ghali. Now, members of the delegations, the question of the status of the American delegation that was raised in Alexandria has been clarified by an exchange of documents. So, let us continue our deliberations hopefully but carefully - carefully but hopefully.
STATEMENT BY EGYPTIAN PRIME MINISTER DR. MUSTAFA KHALIL AT THIS MORNING'S OPENING SESSION ON THE AUTONOMY TALKS
Excellency Dr. Burg, Excellency Ambassador Leonard, distinguished members of the delegations.
I would like to start by thanking Dr. Burg and the Israeli government for their kind reception. We are about to start our deliberations which I think should move, as Dr. Burg said, hopefully but carefully, that we can reach what we are all determined to reach. And by that I mean a comprehensive peace settlement in the area.
I do not have to reiterate once again that Egypt is determined to honor its obligations. It is determined to honor its peace with Israel, and in the meantime it is determined to honor its signature and its obligations according to the framework of Camp David, which sets the mode for the comprehensive peace settlement.
We are convening here, at this meeting, after the Alexandria meeting, where we discussed procedural matters, and then we had a meeting between the two, or three, technical delegations, and they have already exchanged views.
I'm really hopeful that in this meeting we can proceed much further on the direction to set topics for the future negotiations.
Once again I would like to thank Dr. Burg and the Israeli Government for their reception and I would like to welcome Ambassador Leonard.
OPENING REMARKS BY AMBASSADOR JAMES LEONARD AT THE AUTONOMY TALKS
My colleagues and I are very happy to be in Israel today for the third session of these talks. I would like to thank the Government of Israel, the person of our host Dr. Burg, for its gracious hospitality on this occasion.
As you all know, the United States attaches the highest importance to these negotiations and has made clear its intention of doing all it can to assure their success. We are confident that the efforts that will be made here today and tomorrow, building on the warm and serious relationships which have already been developed at the previous sessions, will bring us effectively closer to the goals before us and to the comprehensive, just and lasting peace which our three countries, and the peoples of this area, have sought so long.