49 Address to the Council of Europe by Foreign Minister Dayan- 10 October 1979

Mr. President:

I bring you warm greetings from the Government and the Knesset of Israel, and I thank you for having invited me to be with you today, together with my distinguished colleague from Egypt, His Excellency Dr. Boutros B. Ghali. I am obliged for being given the opportunity to express to you, Mr. President, and to this Assembly, our profound appreciation for your friendship and cooperation with Israel, particularly with the observers from the Knesset, our Parliament, who have been attending and participating in your deliberations for nearly 15 years. We are proud to take part, in this way, in such a remarkable expression of democratic opinion in the world today.

May I also express our appreciation for your resolution on Soviet Jewry. The widespread support it received in this Assembly gave hope and encouragement to countless brave and oppressed men and women in their struggle for basic human rights and dignity.

Your forceful condemnation of terrorism in all its forms, and the expression of your determination to counter it, have taken concrete form in the European Conventions on the Suppression of Terror. In this field, too, you have set an example to free men everywhere.

Six years ago the late Golda Meir, then Prime Minister of Israel, appeared before you in this Assembly. She recalled Europe's wars and history and your belief that no member-state of this Assembly will take up arms against its neighbour. She went on to express to hope and dream that the nations in the Middle East might follow the lesson of Europe. Five days later, however, our neighbours launched a war against Israel for the fourth time in 25 years. Still, let me express here the hope, that the efforts of the parties in the current peace process in which we are now engaged, will also be steps in the same direction of harmony.

Mr. President, I am pleased to recall your message on the occasion of the signing of the Treaty of Peace between Egypt and Israel, which was a mark of recognition of the historic. achievement of Camp David and the Peace Treaty. With the resolution of this Assembly of 7 May 1979, you gave us support in our determination to bring real peace to our area, despite of those who reject it and seek to halt its progress.

Even though it is only a beginning, the Peace Treaty with Egypt has already laid the foundations for a new reality in our region. During thirty years of wars, we have had all kinds of arrangements: armistice agreements, cease-fires, disengagement of forces, limitation of forces, U.N. forces and U.N. supervision etc. After every war something new was invented, but never was it the real solution - terminating the state of war and establishing real peace relations between the parties. This has now changed. The great efforts and courageous leadership of President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin, with the devoted help of President Carter, have brought the first Arab neighbouring country to realize that it is no use continuing the boycott of Israel and opposing its very existence, as the Arab states have done despite our constant call for peace since the establishment of Israel in 1948. A Treaty of Peace has now been achieved, and a dream has come true. One first step, the opening of the borders for mutual visits to both countries, is already being realized. Our leaders and officials exchange visits in a cordial atmosphere. In this connection let me stress here that we see the treaty with Egypt as a first step in the process of achieving comprehensive peace. We desire nothing better than to embark upon the road of negotiating peace agreements with all our neighbouring states. From this rostrum, I repeat our invitation to the government of Jordan, Syria and Lebanon to join the process, as well as to the representatives of the Palestinian Arab residents of Judaea, Samaria and the Gaza district to join the current negotiations on the establishment of the self-governing authority.

Mr. President, In this context I would like to share with you our disappointment at the attitude of some of the European governments towards the peace process. It was saddening and surprising to find out that a large number of European governments did not welcome the Peace Treaty. This attitude has been mainly reflected in the Middle Eastern declarations of the Foreign Ministers of the European community, and especially in their recent UN address in which they failed even to refer to the Egyptian-Israeli Treaty of Peace by its proper name, mentioning it just as "the agreement". Cynically enough, in that address, which condemned Israel for activities in Lebanon taken in clear self-defence, no reference, whatsoever was made to the P.L.O. murderous crimes against our civilian population, which have compelled us to act in our own defence. Let us put it frankly: this position can only weaken the hands of those who support the peace process. It is our -hope and expectation that the governments of free Europe, the continent which has known so many wars, which was the scene of the Holocaust of the Jewish people in the last generation, should reflect upon their great responsibility, refrain from prejudging the issues, and instead encourage us all in the difficult negotiations which lie ahead of us. Here I feel obliged to mention with satisfaction those many individuals in government, parliament and public life in the European countries who have given their genuine blessing to the peace process and its achievements.

Israel is fully committed to the Camp David Accords. The current negotiations are aimed at implementing these Accords. The plan laid down in them includes the withdrawal of the Israeli Military Administration and its replacement by a self-governing authority (an Administrative Council) of the Palestinian Arabs who live there. In this way the Palestinian Arabs residing in Judaea, Samaria and the Gaza district will be granted full autonomy for a transitional period of five years. When the self-governing authority (the Administrative Council) has been freely elected, established And inaugurated by the inhabitants of the areas, the transitional period of five years will begin, after which agreement should be reached on the final status of the areas, and negotiations will be held with Jordan in order to conclude a treaty of peace, which will determine the boundaries between the two states.

In this context, let us not forget that Jordan was formerly a part of Mandatory Palestine, and after 1948 conferred its citizenship on the inhabitants of Judaea and Samaria. Up to one million Palestinian Arabs now live in Jordan and almost another million Jordanian citizens live in Judaea and Samaria. The Palestinian Arab population in both Jordan and these areas maintains, through the open bridges and owing to family relationship on both banks of the Jordan River, strong links in all spheres of life. As far as the concept of self-determination for the Palestinian Arabs is concerned, the fact should be recognized that in practice it has already found its expression to a great extent in the Kingdom of Jordan, where the Palestinian Arabs who reside there feel at home in every respect.

As for the PLO, its objective, both in ideology and in practice, has been to put an end to the State of Israel. The concept label of a national liberation movement, which has been adopted and encouraged by the international community in our generation, has in fact been distorted and misrepresented by this terrorist group.

Let me refer for a moment to the document called "The Palestinian National Covenant", presented by the PLO as its ideological basis.

According to this Covenant, the Jews who came to Palestine after the beginning of what the Covenant calls the "Zionist invasion" (defined by it as the year 1917, the date of the Balfour Declaration) shall not be considered as Palestinians. This means that most of the Jewish population of Israel is not entitled to live there. Furthermore, the Covenant states explicitly that "the establishment of the State of Israel is entirely illegal, regardless the passage of time"; and that "claims of historical or religious, ties of Jews with Palestine are incompatible with the facts of history". Israel is labeled "a geographical base for world imperialism... a constant threat vis-a-vis peace in the Middle East". The Covenant maintains that "the liberation of Palestine will destroy the Zionist and imperialist presence and will contribute to the establishment of peace in the Middle East". The PLO aims, therefore, simply at our liquidation as a state and a national entity. Every hint about any other goal of the PLO is false. Furthermore, this vicious doctrine has been translated, throughout the years, into daily crimes of the lowest nature, involving the murder of many hundreds of people - Jews and Arabs - and the wounding of many thousands of others.

We believe, as do the Americans and the Egyptians, that the process of solution laid down in the Camp David Accords offers the Arab residents of the areas prospects of governing themselves, and of close and free contact with both their neighbours - Israel and Jordan. Let us hope that the campaign of intimidation, the threats of assassination by the PLO, and the violent opposition of rejectionists directed against the inhabitants of the areas, will not prevent them from joining the negotiations.

Israel is the target of constant attempts to terrorize its population. The Government of Israel, like any other government, has to protect the lives of its citizens and will continue to do so. We cannot and will not live with a situation in which our only means to take care of our people will be by increasing the number of ambulances in Israel.

In this connection, it is worth mentioning that the situation in Lebanon, which has deteriorated in recent years to a very serious degree, derives, to a great extent, from Lebanon's exposure - mainly in its southern area - to the mercy of PLO terrorist activities. These are aimed not only against Israel, but also against the Christian and the Moslem population of the area in question - with the blessing of Syria, which has taken control of the northern part of the country. We uphold the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of Lebanon; but the regrettable inability of the Lebanese government to exercise its sovereignty and prevent PLO activities has enabled the terrorists to act against our civilian population and the south Lebanese villages. Unfortunately, this is done under the umbrella of the Syrians and from the villages in the area controlled by the PLO. It has been a constant source of terror, which has compelled us to act in self-defence against the murderers. We feel grief and sorrow for lives ~ and lives - lost in this tragic situation. But no one can expect Israel to just sit back quietly and let the PLO train the murderers and organize them for their attacks against our population. The Government of Lebanon and the population living on the Lebanese side of the border cannot give shelter to the terrorists - and at the same time enjoy normal life. We can only hope that the Lebanese authorities will take action to prevent hostile activities from their area.

The campaign against the peace process currently taking place in the Middle East has been combined with vast propaganda activities to legitimize the PLO in the international arena. Moreover, we are now often being asked to deal with this organization. Unfortunately, those who advocate this course misunderstand the real nature of the PLO. Europe especially, because of its historical experience, should be aware of the fact that vicious ideologies can take over practical politics; and that ignoring the murder of the civilian population has its moral and practical results in every society. Let us do our utmost to prevent this happening.

Let me say a few words concerning the Arab refugees. It should be realized that the problem of, the Palestinian Arab refugees living now in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and elsewhere, cannot be solved in the areas of Judaea, Samaria and the Gaza district. The number of refugees living in Lebanon and Syria is about 300,000, and in Jordan 240,000. Judaea, Samaria and the Gaza district, with a total population of about 1,200,000 people, include about 350,000 refugees of their own. Besides, these areas are not economically self-supporting by any means. The solution for the settlement of the refugees should therefore be found in other Arab countries, most of which are rich in land and short of population. In the Camp David Accords, we have announced our preparedness to work with Egypt and other interested parties to the end of establishing agreed procedures for a prompt, just and permanent solution of the refugee problem; we have also agreed to discuss and agree upon modalities of admission of persons who left Judaea, Samaria and Gaza in 1967. However, what the PLO is after, as I have mentioned, is something totally different. Its aim in asking for the refugees to go back to their homes and lands which are in Israel is to determine, not the future of the Palestinian Arabs, but our future. Therefore, do not expect us to sit down to talk with this terrorist organization, whose practice is to murder our citizens, and its aim - to liquidate our state.

The people of Israel are confident that the peace process will eventually attract other Arab countries as well. We expect Europe to encourage this process, and also to seek to promote regional cooperation and initiate economic projects of mutual interest to our area and to European states. One could envisage a new kind of Marshall Plan to bring the example of European economic cooperation to the Middle East. This is the true challenge, the challenge of peace.

It is a fact that the Camp David Accords are the only realistic framework in existence today for the promotion of peace in the Middle East. The Treaty of Peace between Egypt and Israel is already being implemented, and the autonomy for the Palestinian Arabs is being negotiated. The Camp David Accords were signed by President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin and witnessed by President Carter. They cannot be deviated from attempts to find fault with the Accords instead of encouraging their implementation, can only lead to regression towards the horrors of war, and the dismantling of the peace process instead of its promotion. We beg you - give a helping hand to peace.