In the United States for talks with senior administration officials, Mr. Peres was accorded a very warm reception by the Reagan administration which was still reeling from the Achille Lauro Affair. The talks focussed on the need to combat international terrorism, as well as on mutual issues and the peace process. On 21 October the prime minister delivered a major policy statement to the United Nations General Assembly on the peace process. He presented a seven point peace plan. Among the points was insistence on direct negotiations, but if necessary, the talks "may be parties. " He also suggested that the permanent members of the Security Council could be invited to support the start of such talks. Israel would welcome Palestinians who "represent peace, not terror" They would be acceptable to Israel. Text:
Mr. President, let me begin by congratulating you on the assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly on this anniversary of the UN. We have already had the occasion to witness your wise and experienced hand in the stewardship of this body.
The world in which the UN was born was torn between two conflicting feelings. There was shock and grief in the wake of death and holocaust. But there was also a gleam of hope. Hope for a new era of freedom. For a world free of oppression, of discrimination, of racism, of apartheid. Above all, for a world free of war - for the reign of peace.
Nothing reflects the universal idea of Judaism more than the noble idea of nations united, a United Nations. This ideal rests, as our forefathers taught us, on the three pillars that support the world: on justice, truth and peace. Yet, this great vision is shadowed by inescapable concerns. As Jews we bear heavy memories. As Israelis, we confront national dilemmas.
Search the map of Western civilization across the ages - not a place will be found where Jews were not persecuted. Save for the New World, you will find yourselves marching along the trail of Jewish blood and tears, tracing the chronology of Jewish martyrdom.
This Mr. President, was the history of my people for two thousand years. Until there came a point, when the Jews tired of dependence on the hatred or the tolerance of others, to settle their fate.
This is the very essence of Zionism. Jews were no longer willing to court the favour of others, and to contend with the force of their fear. Israel was created not only as a home for persecuted Jews the world over, but also as the last refuge from any need to justify their Jewishness.
Here is the hope of the people of Israel: To finally be masters of their own fate, true to their own heritage, sovereign in their own land, free to practise their faith and continue their contribution to a world that rejected them.
Zionism is thus a victory over racism.
When the dawn finally came, an ancient language was given a new reality. From across distance and time, Jews gathered anew. A waste-land was made to bloom. The unskilled wandering Jew turned artisan, farmer, scientist and soldier, rebuilding his home with a new found pioneering spirit.
True to our heritage, we set out to secure a safe haven not only for those who fulfilled their dream by making Israel their home, but also for those yet deprived of that right. In that tradition still today, we pray that all Jews who yearn for Zion - be they in the Soviet Union, Ethiopia, Syria or elsewhere - be permitted to reunite with their destiny.
I call upon the Soviet leaders: let our people go. Empty the prisons of people whose sole crime is loyalty to Jewish tradition and pursuit of the Zionist dream. Individuals like Scharansky and Begin. This call exceeds ordinary political considerations. It reaches the depth of human dignity and the source of human rights.
A people reborn, we faced poverty, desert, isolation and the challenge of moulding the ingathered into one nation. We never expected to be surrounded by hostility. Seeking coexistence with our neighbours, we found that the revival of two national movements - the Jewish and the Arab - produced conflict rather than cooperation.
Recently, it has manifested itself in the form of international terrorism.
Indeed, in our region, terrorism is at war with peace.
Terrorism is bent on injuring the peace process, but we have an equal determination: It will not stop progress toward peace.
We reject the absurd claim that resisting terrorism - rather than terrorism itself undermines efforts for peace.
I would like to express from this podium my deep sorrow and sincere condolences to Mrs. Klinghoffer and her bereaved family, who are this very moment grieving the death of their father - an innocent victim of senseless cruelty.
Mr. President, nobody brought more tragedy on the Palestinians than PLO terrorism. Our enemy is not a people, a race, a religion or a community. Our enemy is belligerency, hatred, and death.
We know that there is a Palestinian problem. We recognize the need to solve it honourably. We are convinced that there is no solution but through diplomatic means. From this rostrum, I call upon the Palestinian people to put an end to rejectionism and belligerency. Let us talk! Come forth and recognize the reality of the State of Israel, our wish to live in peace and our need for security. Let us face each other as free men and women; across the negotiating table.
Let us argue, but not fight. Let us arm ourselves with reason, let us not reason with arms.
Ever since the beginning of the dispute between us, we have urged our Palestinian neighbours to reach an accommodation.
For all these years, our hand remained outstretched in vain, and the reply we heard was the echo of our own voices.
When President Sadat came to Jerusalem, the course of history for all of us was changed. He found Israel willing, open and as courageous as he was in the pursuit of peace. The world looked on in wonder as a conflict which had seemed insoluble for more than thirty years turned soluble in less than one.
Between the 48 million Egyptians and 4 million Israelis there is today peace. Peace with Egypt was to accomplish several objectives:
Sinai was returned to Egypt.
A solution to the Palestinian problem, in all its aspects, was to be reached. It was agreed that full autonomy to the residents of the territories could be a promising step in that direction.
Peace between Egypt and Israel - never intended to be an isolated episode - was to become the cornerstone of a comprehensive peace strategy in our region.
Peace between us was to be filled, with constructive content.
This treaty survived tests none of us foresaw. Its full implementation is a challenge and a hope.
We turn to our Egyptian friends with the invitation to breathe life into our relations and to raise our peoples' spirits; let us not allow gloom and doom to overshadow our worthiest accomplishment; let us make our peace success - a source of encouragement to others.
The most complex issue - yet the most promising - involves our neighbour to the east: the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. An issue confined not only to borders, it reaches across peoples and states. Its settlement should also comprise the resolution of the Palestinian issue.
Middle East archives are filled with negotiating plans, but its diplomacy is short of negotiating partners. Thus, this is the hour for decisions and statesmanship.
I invite this organization to depart from the tired and timid norm and to fulfil its destiny as enshrined in its walls, by ushering the parties to the conflict into a new diplomatic initiative.
Let all parties to the dispute facilitate a new phase in Arab-Israeli peace by renouncing - and putting an end to - the use of violence.
This new initiative should be based on the following principles:
1. The objective of these negotiations is to reach peace treaties between Israel and the Arab states, as well as to resolve the Palestinian issue.
2. Neither party may impose preconditions.
3. Negotiations are to be based on UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 and on willingness to entertain suggestions proposed by other participants.
4. Negotiations are to be conducted directly, between states.
5. If deemed necessary, these negotiations may be initiated with the support of an international forum, as agreed upon by the negotiating states.
6. This gathering can take place before the end of this year, in Jordan, Israel or any location, as mutually agreed upon. We will be pleased to attend an opening meeting in Amman.
7. Negotiations between Israel and Jordan are to be conducted between an Israeli delegation on the one hand and a Jordanian - or a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation on the other, both comprising delegates that represent peace, not terror.
Aware of the nature of this undertaking, I propose the following as a possible blueprint for implementation:
Negotiations may produce intermediate as well as permanent arrangements They may deal with the demarcation of boundaries as well as the resolution of the Palestinian problem. The Camp David Accords provide a possible basis for the attainment of these objectives.
The permanent members of the Security Council may be invited to support the initiation of these negotiations. It is our position that those who confine their diplomatic relations to one side of the conflict exclude themselves from such a role.
This forum, while not being a substitute for direct negotiations, can offer support for them. Indeed, nothing should undermine the direct nature of these negotiations.
In order to expedite this process, the agenda, procedure and- international support for negotiations can be discussed and agreed upon at a meeting of small working teams to be convened with 30 days.
Mr. President, distinguished delegates, let us put this process into motion. Let us shield this flickering hope from threatening winds. Let us not consign this moment of hope to the fate of missed opportunities.
Let us look our younger generation in the eye and vow to do all that is humanly possible so that never again will a young boy die in a war we failed to prevent.
The sons of Abraham have become quarrelsome, but remain family nevertheless.
Destined to live side by side, from time immemorial till the end of time; sharing a past of mutual enrichment; struggling through a present of suspicion and conflict; holding to a separate - yet common - desire for a better future -we are ready to enter it with no hesitation.
I hereby proclaim: The state of war between Israel and Jordan should be terminated immediately. Israel declares this readily in the hope that King Hussein is willing to reciprocate this step.
Mr. President, let us not confine the horizons of our vision to the limits set by what is history-proven. For the future holds yet untold possibility for peace and prosperity for our war-torn lands.
In the words of the prophet: "...and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory ... and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts." (Haggai, 2:7, 9).