In a wide-ranging policy exposition, Mr. Rabin explained the reasons that led his government to negotiate with the PLO and eventually sign the DOP with it. He did not underestimate the importance of Syria in the process, but wondered how Syria could demand withdrawal from the Golan Heights without indicating what it meant by peace and while sheltering ten Arab rejectionist organizations. For the time being the key priority was to reach an agreement with the PLO. Mr. Rabin discussed at length the threat of Islamic fundamentalism to Middle East and world peace and stability. Text:
Mr. Rabin: I would like to recognize a family here, Mr. and Mrs. Katz whose son is missing in action since 1982. It's one of the scars and the wounds of the wars that we have experienced which have not yet been solved and should be solved. I have heard that the Israelis paid heavily for the existence of the war, and I believe that the same applied to others who were engaged in war.
You listened to my record. I was for 27 years a soldier. And believe me, in addition to victories and sometimes setbacks, we who have fought - and I believe there are many who think otherwise - know the real face, the ugly face of war: The misery, the suffering, the pain that war brings about those who fight them and, even more so, when civilians are caught between the fighting forces.
Therefore, today, even though there is no peace and tranquility in the region yet, allow me to focus on the efforts to bring about peace. Peace is a word that everyone uses. I believe many things have been done in contradiction to peace, talking of peace with words, without meaning to do what is needed to achieve peace. The present government of Israel, when we took office, we decided to give new meaning to the negotiations that started in the Madrid Peace Conference. We believe that peace can be achieved only when the two sides are ready for compromises, painful compromises. If, every side will stick to its basic perceptions, descriptions, axioms of the past without changing the way of trying to achieve peace, peace will never be achieved.
This is - was and is our approach.
We found when I entered office, we found negotiations with four Arab partners, but the key lay and lies with the Palestinians or the Syrians to begin a breakthrough. In almost two years of talks, there was no real breakthrough, either with the Syrians or the Palestinians. Jordan couldn't move without meaningful advancement in our negotiations with the Palestinians. Lebanon could not move without getting the green light from Damascus. And in our explorations vis-a-vis Syria, vis-a-vis the Palestinians, we came to the conclusion that we had to take a major step, different in kind and in substance than we took before.
Allow me to say that I wish that peace had to be done, had to be achieved with friends. It will be the easiest thing to achieve. But under our circumstances, peace has to be achieved with enemies, with bitter enemies of Israel in the past. Without it, peace will not be achieved.
Whoever we turn to was an enemy of Israel. We were engaged in war. We lost thousands of people, they lost thousands of people. And allow me to say that when we decided to do it with the PLO, it was a major decision, unexpected. After 30 years of terror, confrontation, we came to the conclusion that on the Palestinian side there is one partner that practically guided, dictated to the Palestinian delegation in Washington whatever to say, to formulate every sentence, to write every word, and we decided - in the Jewish tradition there is a name, Purimspiel, a play of masks on a certain Jewish holiday - to recognize that it's better to take off the masks that cover the Palestinian delegation and to negotiate with those who really send them and guide them.
It was not an easy decision for the Israelis. Many of those - I had 40,000-50,000 people who demonstrated against me. We are a democracy and it's legitimate. But we made a major decision. We have to have a breakthrough with the Palestinians.
For 45 years I have heard from every quarter, in the Arab world, in the United States, in Europe, that the heart, the crux of the Arab-Israeli conflict is the conflict between the Palestinians and Jews, Palestinians and Israel.
We decided to tackle this problem, at least to remove once and forever this legend - if it's right or wrong I will not argue.
Allow me to say that a handshaking on the lawn of the White House is only the beginning. It has not yet solved all the problems. It was a major move, but has to be translated into realities on the ground. What we want is simple - let the Palestinians run their own lives. I don't see any reason, any justification, and the purpose of this hour and this moment was not to be a government that will run other people's lives, the Palestinian life.
We would like to move, as we are committed to by the Letter of Invitation to the Madrid Peace Conference, with the Palestinians to a permanent solution of the conflict between them and us. The first phase, the interim self-government arrangement with the Palestinians - we already let them run their own lives, but on one issue Israel will not give up on - its security. Therefore we stress that the settlements will remain, at least for the interim period. This is without arguing what will be in the permanent solution. We didn't want to repeat the painful, the dramatic experience of the price of peace with Egypt when we had to uproot settlements to destroy Yamit. All the settlements will remain.
Israel will carry overall responsibility for the security of the Israelis in the settlements and in their movement in the territories. Israel will be responsible for the external security,
This is our position, and we would like to achieve the agreement about the implementation of the first phase - the Gaza-Jericho - first and to create a situation that in the Gaza strip, where three-quarters of a million Palestinians and 5,000 Israelis live, to let them run Gaza. The large Gaza cities house over a quarter of a million Palestinians and not one Israeli - Hamm, Deir El Balah, Rafah, the refugee camps. They want to run; they would like to be run by themselves. This is what we want, but at the same time to preserve the vital interest of our security.
I believe at this stage to prove that the agreement that was reached can be implemented is more important than to sign another agreement. We are for other agreements. We would like to have peace with the three additional Arab neighboring countries to Israel, in addition to Egypt. And, as you know, with Egypt we've lived for 14V2 years in peace, and it shows that peace is not an illusion. Peace can be achieved, maintained when the leaders of the countries and the peoples believe in peace and are ready to make sacrifices for peace.
We paid a painful price for peace with Egypt, and I believe the late prime minister of Israel, Menachem Begin, has to be given all the credit for his courage to take then the decision to pay such a price for peace.
We will continue our negotiations with Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. But above all, we need to continue the negotiations with the Palestinians.
It's a very sensitive period. On one hand, there are expectations on the part of the Israelis, on the part of the Palestinians. On the other hand, it is not yet implemented. And there are forces among the Palestinians, especially the extreme Islamist groups - the Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, the ten rejectionist Palestinian organizations that have headquarters in Syria - which have come out against the agreement, and are escalating their terror activities with one purpose, political purpose in mind: To undermine, to bring about the cancellation of the agreement, to put obstacles on the road to achieve it.
The Hamas would focus on killing Israelis, hoping for a reaction from the Israelis who lost their dear ones, and to start a vicious circle that will lead to detrack the negotiations and to prevent agreement of the implementation of the declaration of principles.
Today the Hezbollah tried again an attack from Lebanon. We responded. Our air force did not hesitate to attack Hezbollah targets in the Bekaa near the Syrian border. I don't see any contradiction between continuation of the peace negotiations with the Palestinians to implement the Declaration of Principles, fighting on one hand the terrorism that their purpose is one, to undermine the peace process. To stop it. There is no contradiction. One complements the other: Fighting those who fight against peace, and talks with the Palestinians, who are committed to the peace - to the agreement that was reached and want to implement it with US.
I am glad that yesterday, today, tomorrow, small teams on the two sides Palestinian and Israeli, will continue their efforts. Yesterday and today in Paris, Palestinians and Israelis in the Economic Committee are starting to negotiate the relations between the two entities.
Peace has many enemies in the region. We have to overcome them. I spoke today to a Middle Eastern, mainly Arab group, and I said to them that what I expect from the Arab countries, the Arab peoples, is to support the agreement, to encourage those who are engaged in peace. And I would like to mention the amount of readiness, assistance that Egypt, that President Mubarak are providing to both sides, facilitate the possibility of meetings between the various partners to the peace negotiations. We would like also to thank the United States administrations of the past and present, the Clinton Administration, the secretary of state, for supporting all the efforts to bring about peace.
It's a fragile period. Many enemies of peace would like to escalate, to inflame again the hatred of 100 years of terror and animosity and not to overcome them, and not to allow to open a new chapter in the relations between Palestinians and Israelis.
I, the prime minister, our government, are determined to continue to fulfill what we are committed to. We really want a change in the interrelationships.
We would like to see, different kind of relations between Palestinians and Israelis. We would like to see with all the complexity of building it, peaceful coexistence in an area in which Palestinian and Israelis live together, criss-cross one another daily in their movement, in their work, We would like to see a new chapter in the oldest conflict between Israelis and Arabs and I believe it will be achieved. It will take time. We shall have to overcome oppositions of different people, the very different ways on both sides.
As I have said on Friday in the press conference with President Clinton, I believe that we and the Palestinians passed the point of no return on the road to implement our agreements. This is the case. Hopefully it will open, it has opened new doors, new approaches, by one or more Arab countries, that will facilitate reaching peace with Israel then, and in the courses to bring healing to those who lost their dear ones, to those who were wounded, and to see the families of missing in action, Katz, Ron Arad, Boumel, Feldman, and others including on the Arab side, coming back home and end the suffering, the pain and the losses of the past wars.
This is our hope. We believe in it and we will do it.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Boyce: Mr. Prime Minister, you said this morning at the meeting with Arab journalists that, "I believe that we" -meaning President Clinton, Secretary Christopher and yourself - "have decided a certain pattern that would lead to resumption of negotiations. What did you three conclude on how to move the Syrian track, specifically, ahead?
Prime Minister Rabin: I said, and I repeat what I have said, that I see the greater importance today in the implementation of the agreement with the Palestinians. I believe that in the Middle East we don't need archives of agreements, none of which have been implemented. Therefore, this is the first priority.
I don't see any contradiction between focusing on negotiations for the implementation of the agreement with the Palestinians and negotiations with other Arab countries, including Syria. Believe me, I see great strategic importance to Israel, I believe also to Syria, in reaching a peace treaty between our two countries, but at the same time, I cannot but ask myself why Syria doesn't come out in support of the PLO, in support of the PLO decision to sign the agreement with us; why Syria allows the ten rejectionist Palestinian organizations freedom, assistance in coming up and attacking Israel, Arafat, and the PLO for signing the agreement; why they allow them to carry out and increase terrorist activities, and saying clearly that the purpose of their terror is to destroy the agreement, to prevent its implementation; why they continue to assist Hezbollah to attack our forces, to continue their fighting against us.
Many people speak about CBM, confidence-building measures. What will be a better confidence-building measure on the part of the Syrians, not vis-a-vis us, vis-a-vis the Palestinians, vis-a-vis the PLO of Tunisia, not to allow the kind of freedom, the use of radio stations that broadcast from Syria to the Palestinians in the territory against the agreement, against its implementation, allowing Ahmed Jibril to say on television that the fate of Arafat will be the fate of Sadat; his own people will assassinate him? I don't want to be the defender of Arafat, but I can't understand how Syria can allow it and to pretend that we, Israel, is not interested in peace negotiation with it.
We are ready. We'll continue negotiations with the Syrians, but the Syrians have to prove that they support another Arab partner's decision to reach an agreement with Israel, not to do the opposite. I believe that there will be, in accordance of certain timetable, there will be renewal of negotiation with Syria. We are ready to do it now without preconditions.
Mr. Boyce: How will keeping the settlers in place ensure the security of Israel?
Prime Minister Rabin: Let's distinguish between the question of the security of Israel and our responsibility to the security of the settlers.
The security of Israel is vis-a-vis a military threat. Eighty-five percent of our defense budget is spent to have the capability to deter Arab countries' armed forces, maybe in the future even in addition to those of Islamic countries, and I refer to those Arab countries that have not signed a peace treaty with Israel. We don't need the F-16 and the F-15 and the F-4 and the Skyhawks and the Merkavas against the Palestinians. This is to deter war and, if it will be forced on us, to win it decisively. We would like - and as a military man, I will tell you, if there is something that can be called the best war, it is the war that was prevented, the war that was avoided.
With the settlers, we have the question of their security. It's not the security of Israel. It's the security of the settlers. We are responsible to that, and we'll do it. And I explain what are the guidelines, what are included, in the Declaration of Principles, that we carried the overall responsibility for the security of the Israelis in the settlements, in the territories, and external security.
Mr. Boyce: When Mr. Arafat was here, he spoke a great deal about Jerusalem. What is your stand now on Jerusalem? Is it negotiable?
Prime Minister Rabin: As part of the DOP for the period of the Interim Arrangements for self-government of the Palestinians, Jerusalem remains united under Israel's sovereignty. The Palestinian Authority Council will have no jurisdiction over Jerusalem. I believe it's the first time that by agreement with another partner we reached this even for the interim period.
In the Camp David, there was no agreement about it. There were three letters attached to the Camp David Accords: One by Mr. Begin stressed the Israeli position, one by President Sadat stressed the Arab position, one by President Carter that did not give to Israel the right of sovereignty over all of Jerusalem. We have never had a promise on this from any American president. The United States realizes the realities, but the US has never recognized it, has never agreed to move the American embassy even to the western part of Jerusalem. This time, at least for the interim period, we reached agreement.
Our position should not be put in any doubt. We see Jerusalem united under Israel's sovereignty and our capital forever.
Mr. Boyce: You have spoken of preventing war by being prepared for it, but won't the recent agreement to purchase the F-15E fighter-bombers from the U.S. fuel more arms acquisition races in the Mideast with your Arab neighbors?
Prime Minister Rabin: I believe that today in the Middle East there is a more intensive and extensive arms race than in any other part of the world, in the context of regional conflicts.
Allow me to remind you just about the United States that less than a year or a year - a little bit over a year ago you agreed to sell 72 F-15Es or Fs to Saudi Arabia.
We are talking about much smaller figures. We cannot afford what the Saudis can afford. And I'm not arguing.
You have arms deals between Russia and Iran, Russia and Syria. You have supplies of arms to the countries of the region, especially today by North Korea, Scud-Cs to Iran, to Syria; agreement between North Korea and Iran to develop the Nadong ground-to-ground missile with a range of 1,300 kilometres, which will allow the Iranians to fire ground-to-ground missiles from Iran against Israel, from Libya against Israel.
Iran tries, in addition to its activities and support of extreme Islamic groups in various Arab countries, including in Somalia today, to undermine moderate Arab regimes. Their policy was formulated by the president of Iran, Rafsanjani, describing the United States as the great Satan and Israel as the small one. They are against the very existence of Israel, they are against the whole peace process, they are against the agreement between the Palestinians and us.
In this world, I would like to continue, I am committed to continue efforts to achieve peace, but from a standpoint of strength. Israel military strength is the only assurance that there will be peace, that peace will be signed, and peace will be maintained.
Mr. Boyce: You said that Iran is aiding Islamic extremists in Somalia. How are they aiding them, and what is the proof of this?
Prime Minister Rabin: We have more than reason to believe that Iran (is) supporting its national Islamic extreme movements. In Algeria, they almost seized power. In Tunisia, they are relatively weak. In Libya, they have enough of their own, they don't need export of leaders from the outside, and you know who is the one. In Egypt, they try by terror activities to undermine the Egyptian economy to bring about a change in the moderate and progressive regime of President Mubarak. They are a minority, but this is what they are trying. Among the Palestinians, the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad are against the peace process, against the agreement with the PLO. In Lebanon, Hezbollah, Sudan fell into their hands. You see Iranians there. It serves as a springboard for their activities and support of other movements in North Africa and in the Middle East, all of them assisted by Iran, All these movements have representation in Teheran, and we have all the reasons to believe that General Aidid gets, directly or indirectly, support from Iran or the pro-Iran Islamic extreme movements.
Mr. Boyce: Can Arafat take the wheel and lead his people as of December 13th? Are they ready, and can they enforce security?
Prime Minister Rabin: First we have to reach an agreement about the details of the "Gaza - Jericho first." On the one hand, to let them run the life of the Palestinians; on the other hand, to have the kind of arrangements that we can carry our responsibility on the security of Israelis and external security.
We made the agreement, taking the chance in the belief that they would be able to control their own people and to run their lives. This is the major risk that we have taken. We would like to give the chance, the first time that somebody in the Middle East offers, when it is possible, to let Palestinians run the life of Palestinians, not in a context of a permanent solution, but in a context of an interim arrangement. The whole idea of having the interim agreement is to create peaceful coexistence within Israelis and Palestinians with the sake of facilitating later on negotiations of permanent - a permanent solution. This is the whole idea; it was imbued in the Camp David Accords, it is imbued in the Letter of Invitation to the Madrid Peace Conference.
Mr. Boyce: Do you consider Arafat's condemnation of the recent murder of Chaim Mizrachi sufficient?
Prime Minister Rabin: I know with whom we are making an agreement. I'm not referring only to personality, but to an organization. I knew that they don't control all the Palestinians, no doubt, those who come up openly against the agreement, and they carry out most, if almost all of the terror activities since September 13.
I know that he might not be in control of everyone of the Fatah, but we cannot tolerate the basic principle that once we sign an agreement, we took upon ourselves commitments that we will not carry them out. Credibility is the name of the game, the key for the future.
Therefore, I believe that he must, in addition to what he did, make sure that it will not happen again as far as it is related to people that come under his control, under his instructions.
Mr. Boyce: How far has the absorption of Russian immigrants progressed, particularly suitable housing and employment?
Prime Minister Rabin: Israel, in the last four years, since the end of '89, has brought and started to absorb half a million immigrants from what used to be the Soviet Union, and additional immigrants from other parts of the world, including Ethiopia. It is, vis-a-vis the total population of Israel - Jews and non-Jews - more than 10 percent. Try to imagine the United States in four years to absorb 25 million immigrants that come with very little, that come without their rights of social security, of anything that they acquired there. From our budget of about, this year, 120 billion shekels - you can divide it almost by three to know the figure in dollars - over 10 billion shekels is appropriated for absorption of newcomers.
If you'll ask me that we have succeeded? No, not yet. It takes times. I will give you two examples. One, before the Russian immigration started, Israel had doctors per capita, more than any country in the world.
I repeat the famous saying that every Jewish mother would like her son to be a doctor. I think you are right. Now she prefers that he be a lawyer.
The number of doctors of medicine that came was about 12,000, almost doubling the number. We are trying, but we can't find jobs every one of them. And we cannot finance all of them. We do it gradually.
There are 40,000 engineers. Three thousand of them are mining engineers. We have not one mine. I have said, "many minefields, but not one mine." Many thousands of engineers that worked in heavy industry in Russia arrived -we don't have heavy industry.
The process of adjustment takes time, but I believe that not only quantitatively, but qualitatively Israel has gained a lot. And the real potentialities of this new wave of immigrants will appear in due time. It starts to appear. If 70,000 families took a mortgage, bought an apartment, it shows that they feel more secure, confident in their future. Seventy thousand means about half of them by now. You have to bear in mind that age-wise, 36 percent of the half a million are above the age of 45. Twenty-five percent are above the age of 55. And we have to absorb them as equal citizens of Israel; we have to finance the social security with billions of shekels to pay them what they deserve in accordance with our laws.
They didn't bring even two rubles from the social security that the Soviet Union used to owe them.
It's a prolonged process. I am not saying that we have succeeded to do it in the best way. We highly subsidize their mortgages. You have to bear in mind we cannot ignore the young generations of Israelis who serve for three years' military service as draftees. They have to be assisted, too. And there are limitations to the financial capabilities of Israel.
We didn't discuss - we changed the order of national priorities domestically. We don't owe money to the territories. We don't believe that this is the real goal of Israel in spending money. We invest in education. We added to the seven billion shekel education, budget in one and a half years, almost three billion shekels. We would like to have a revolution in our education system in three years, to modernize, to increase the hours, to see the teacher, the women, men that are the teachers of the future generation of Israel paid reasonably. We expanded dramatically the infrastructure of transportation budget, and we would like to fight unemployment. These are the three goals, not money for the territories: Education, transportation, employment - jobs.
Mr. Boyce: Could you please restate Israel's policy on nuclear weapons and discuss any nuclear threat posed by the Arab states in the Mideast?
Prime Minister Rabin: Israel policy was and is that we will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons to the context of the Arab-Israeli, Islamic-Israeli conflict.
At the same time, we offered time and again to have a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East. Today we are ready to sign, on a bilateral basis, an agreement about nuclear-free zone in the Middle East with all the Arab and Islamic countries who are relevant to the issue, to have a bilateral supervision that will be decided by agreement between them and us. In addition, we signed the chemical warfare agreement, in which, within a limited period of time after its ratification, there will be no chemical or biological weapons in Israel or means of production of such weapons. We did not condition our signing it on the signature of the Arab countries.