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VOLUME 11-12: 1988-1992
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257. Summary of a meeting between Prime Minister Shamir and President von Weizsaecker of Germany, 11 December 1991.
The president of Germany paid a one-day visit to Israel and held talks with the prime minister and other Israeli leaders. Mr. Shamir noted that in the current round of peace talks in Washington, some progress was made in the talks with Lebanon. There was a stalemate in the talks with the Syrians over their demand that Israel commit itself in advance to total withdrawal from the Golan Heights while Israel wanted Syria to elaborate its views on the nature of peace. There was no progress in talks with the Jordanian-Palestinian delegation while members of the Israeli and Palestinian teams waited in the corridors of the State Department in Washington for the resolution of the impasse. The Palestinians wanted separate talks, while Israel insisted that it talk, as agreed previously, with a joint Palestinian-Jordanian delegation. These issues were explained to the president of Germany. Text:
Mr. Shamir explained in detail to the visitor the two main tasks which Israel now faces - The peace process and the absorption of the Soviet immigration. Mr. Shamir stressed that there is much importance in the opening of talks in Washington, and despite the unsurprising difficulties, there is a feeling that they are moving forward. We must still resolve a number of procedural issues before we can move to the agenda and essential issues.
Mr. Shamir noted that in talks with the Lebanese delegation yesterday, essential issues were already raised when we proposed to conduct discussions on the basis of the 1983 peace treaty proposal. He added that with regard to the Syrian delegation, there were no illusions of obtaining a quick solution due to the Syrians' extremist position. Referring to talks with the Jordanian-Palestinian delegation, Mr. Shamir emphasized Israel's position whereby the talks must be held with a joint delegation since the issues are related and Jordan is involved in all of them. Mr. Shamir added that the parties must find a solution among themselves thereby making it possible that in today's talks we can already concentrate on agenda issues with the joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation. He reiterated the difficulties inherent in conducting talks so far from the region and noted our obligation to advance the process despite the difficulties; Israel will proceed gradually as there is no better alternative than peace.
The Prime Minister noted the importance of the multi-lateral talks and the possibility that Europe will be involved therein and thereby assist the parties. At the end of their meeting, Mr. Shamir extensively reviewed the process of the Soviet immigration and the great challenge of absorbing them into Israeli society that it presents. |
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