Remarks by Prime Minister Rabin and Secretary of State Christopher

On 9 March in the morning, Foreign Minister Peres held talks with PA Chairman Arafat in Erez Checkpoint. Peres stressed the role of the PA in prevention of terror. Confidence-building measures were also discussed. Later in the day Secretary of State Christopher arrived in Israel after talks in Egypt and before proceeding to Damascus. He was greeted at the airport by Foreign Minister Peres (see document 26). Following a meeting with the Israeli negotiating team, the following remarks were made:

Prime Minister Rabin: We welcome you, Mr. Secretary. We appreciate very much that the United States, the President and yourself, are making a real effort to facilitate, to help and to build bridges that will lead to comprehensive peace - that is to say, with the Palestinians, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. We believe that peace is attainable. It calls for determination, wisdom and the capability to overcome difficulties.

I believe that by now, Mr. Secretary, we can sum up our joint activities of the last two and a half years that we in Israel are in government. We signed the Declaration of Principles in Washington in September 1993. We implemented the Cairo Agreement that brought about "Gaza-Jericho First." We had the Washington Declaration - the United States, Jordan and Israel. We signed the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel. We created openness in many parts of the world - in many parts of the Arab world, too. And we have to move forward. Today, the major problems are to consolidate the agreements that have been reached: the Gaza-Jericho agreement, from the point of view of security and economic development; in Jordan, by keeping commitments that were given to Jordan, by whoever [sic] gave it to them; and of course, to go on with the Palestinians, to implement the DOP on the West Bank, Judea and Samaria. I believe that as a result of the meeting between Shimon Peres, our Foreign Minister and Chairman Arafat today, we aim to a target date in which both sides had to prove their capability, on one hand, to reach an agreement on what will be implemented of the DOP and how the DOP will be implemented - in Judea and Samaria, the West Bank and at the same time, how the Palestinian Authority will prove its capability to cope with violence and terrorism. The only and the main obstacle to move ahead with the Palestinians is terrorism. Therefore, aiming at the target date is a test to both sides - to the Palestinians, to prove their capability to cope with terrorism from their own territories against Israelis and Palestinians in their territories and outside; to us, with them, to reach an agreement that will meet the goal of the DOP.

I believe that your mission here will bring about the resumption of the negotiations in whatever format with Syria and Lebanon. I would like to make it clear. We are capable of achieving peace with Syria. We want to achieve with Syria peace that will give Israel peace, in the real meaning of it and security. We reached a high point in our negotiations about security in Washington when the two Chiefs of Staff of the armed forces of Syria and Israel met and negotiated. I believe there is no reason why we shouldn't continue these negotiations. At least in our discussions and during your trips in the region, we try to bring it about and hopefully. I wish you a success in achieving it.

Again, Mr. Secretary, we have worked together. We have great confidence in you and we appreciate what you have done and what you will do to strengthen the hopes for peace in the region.

Secretary Christopher: Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister. I am delighted to be here in Tel Aviv again on this very beautiful spring evening. We had a very good discussion on a wide range of issues. My strong perception after meeting with Prime Minister Rabin and his top aides, including Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, is of a renewed commitment on their part to push ahead in seeking a comprehensive peace in this region. I want to assure him and all the people of Israel, that the United States shares that commitment. We will join in pushing ahead.

I gave the Prime Minister and his colleagues an account of my meeting today in Egypt with President Mubarak and his aides. We are in complete agreement that Israel, Egypt and the United States should continue to work closely together to achieve peace and regional stability. We spent a good deal of time talking about the peace process. I was very pleased to hear from both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister an account of the welcome developments today in Gaza. It is something that I hope I can build on by emphasizing some of the points tomorrow when I meet with Chairman Arafat. It is very important that we have not only peace in the region, but that we have peace with security for Israel.

As the events of the day tend to demonstrate, we are determined to move forward. I think we can find ways to work cooperatively to overcome the obstacles that exist. If there is a willingness - and I believe there is - on all sides to address each other's needs, I think we can make great strides toward a comprehensive peace that we all are looking for. The United States is determined to stand by Israel and support it and the other parties in this peace process. We are committed to pushing ahead on all of the negotiating tracks and trying to grasp this opportunity for peace. That is the mission of my next several days here in Israel. With the Prime Minister's help, I do believe that we can use this opportunity, working with Israel and working with the other parties, to put the peace process firmly back on track. Thank you very much.