In a policy statement to his party's highest governing body, Mr. Rabin outlined the current agenda: peace, security, the struggle against terrorism. He stressed his unwillingness to annex close to two million Palestinians, hence the need for compromise and flexibility. He declared that "in the next few months we shall be tested and so will the chances for peace. " Text:
The Labor party went to the elections to the 13th Knesset with the intention of winning and setting up a Government which would realize the party's goals - as laid down at the conference in November 1991 - for the good of the people.
I should like to speak today about peace and security. Our road to peace security is very different to that of the Likud. We consider the effort to reach peace between ourselves and our Arab neighbors - including the Palestinians in the territories - a goal which can ensure both security and economic development and prosperity.
There is no peace without security. Our approach was and remains that peace and security can only be achieved by means of mutual compromises made both by ourselves and by our Arab interlocutors. Into the framework of the Madrid Conference and peace talks which followed, we poured new content, which in our opinion can lead to peace.
I am convinced that until last August (when the Washington talks resumed after the new Israeli Government was formed) the Syrians had no problem negotiating with us. They did it in order to placate the Americans and knew that on the basis of the Likud positions - peace for peace - there was no chance that peace would actually be achieved, and all the blame could be placed on Israel.
I have always wondered how the Likud, which gave up the whole of the Sinai Peninsula down to the last grain of sand in return for peace with Egypt, believed that it could attain peace with another Arab state without even being willing to reach a territorial compromise. We are willing to compromise, and are ready for the possibility of full peace with Syria, because we have no doubt that if we reach peace with Syria, the danger to the state's security and actual existence will fall significantly.
We have also demonstrated greater flexibility in our negotiations with the Palestinians from the territories, and they too have come to realize that they can no longer blame the Israeli Government for the lack of progress in peace talks. Among the Palestinian there has erupted a wave of opposition to the peace negotiations which stems primarily from the extreme Muslim organizations.
We believed and still believe that there is a chance to make progress towards peace both with the Syrians and with the Palestinians in the territories, following which progress will also be made with Jordan and Lebanon. Therefore, we have not placed any conditions to the continuation of the peace talks, just as we shall not accept any conditions regarding our war against terror, in order to ensure security within the sovereign territory of Israel - including greater Jerusalem - and in the territories of Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
The terror is being carried out especially by those who do not only seek to murder Jews and Palestinians, but first of all the hope for peace. Their intention is to increase terror - especially within the sovereign territory of Israel - with the hope of sowing fear, confusion and concern, and nurturing hatred which will convince the Israeli public to give up the road to peace. They would like the Israeli public to follow the false messianism of the Likud which would have us believe that one can preserve the status quo.
We are going through a difficult period and there is no point in trying to whitewash the situation or to conceal the reality. The enemies of peace are trying to turn terror into a tool which will frighten Israel and cause it to feel that there is no one to make peace with - to undermine the peace and reintroduce into the Middle East confusion, escalation and increased hatred.
I know how difficult it is to explain, that despite the pain of terror, we must continue to tread the road which we have chosen, for it is only a combination of peace negotiations, a relentless war against terror, and the maintenance of military might which will lead us to the desired solution. Negotiations are a means for solving the conflict. Military might and the ability to fight terror despite the difficulties are the conditions to bring the Arab states and the Palestinians to the realization that we shall not be driven to a situation in which we despair of the chance to attain peace, and conclude that the only way to proceed is by means of war.
Despite the tension created by terror our position was and remains that we do not want to annex close to two million Palestinians to the State of Israel within the framework of the permanent solution. Nor are we willing to return to the 1967 lines, or to give up Jerusalem as the united capital of Israel under Israeli sovereignty. But we must remember that the road to a permanent solution goes through an interim arrangement - self-administration or autonomy. In order to constrain the terror we shall have to adopt measures which will lead to a physical separation between ourselves and the Palestinians. This can be done by limiting immediately the number of those coming from the territories to work in Israel. But in order to do this we must find a solution for the Palestinian inhabitants in the territories. We shall have to start implementing measures in the course of the negotiations, and the war against the terror will have to continue as well.
No political constraints have been placed on the IDF, the Border Police, the police or the General Security Services (GSS). The members of the Likud who say that there are political constraints are simply lying. The only limitations are those imposed by the law. It is only the law which determines what may and what may not be done. I should like to send my greetings to the IDF, the Border Police, the police and the GSS which are all doing their best, day and night, to fight terror under difficult conditions, with 120,000 Palestinian workers coming daily into the sovereign territory of Israel, and Jewish settlements scattered all over Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
We have decided to strengthen the police force. We shall be adding 1,000 new policemen, and mobilizing immediately 550 who were supposed to join the force in the second half of the year. We shall place armed guards in the schools and resume the activities of the Gadnah (paramilitary training for youths aged 16-18). Youth will learn how to defend themselves with sticks. We did it in the past and there is no reason why we shouldn't do it today. With all the pain over those killed and wounded, the public must be prepared to fight back. individual stabbers cannot be allowed to impose fear on a whole street or school. It can be done with proper preparation and training. There must also be greater enlistment to the Civil Guard. When the Civil Guard was founded (following the Six-Day War) there were 140,000 volunteers, Today there are less than 50,000. The Civil Guard must be strengthened in order to strengthen the resolve for self-defense.
I know: One needs great faith. One needs a thick skin to stand against the wounds created by terror and which are used by (right-wing) political elements in Israel to incite against our course with the help of pipe-dreams and false messianism. We must stand up and fight against terror with all the available means where the only limitations are those imposed by the law - and make peace for the sake of peace.
In the next few months we shall be tested and so will the chances for peace. Our ability to provide security to the people will also be tested. I believe that our course is right. I believe that we shall succeed. We must be strong and determined, and confront the illusions which the Likud is spreading generously. We must stand by our positions, struggle for their realization, and demand that the public - but first and foremost the security forces - fulfill their duty. That is the task. That is the test - a test for all of us. We must stand up against the demonstrations. They (the demonstrators of the right) can stand near my house as much as they like, but they will not change my position -our position. We have decided to follow our road, we shall persevere and shall succeed.