The Ministry of Foreign Affairs initiated briefings to local and foreign Arab and Palestinian journalists in an effort to establish direct contact with them. Among those attending the on-the-record briefing were representatives of the BBC, MBC radio and television in the Arabic language as well as Palestinian media in the territories. By then, Minister of Foreign Affairs Levy had held talks with Chairman Arafat, the first member of the Netanyahu cabinet to do so. Mr. Bentsur stated categorically that the new government was committed to the peace process and it was then in the process of formulating its exact position on the various issues and meeting with local and foreign leaders such as the visit of the Prime Minister to Cairo where he met with President Mubarak and his talks with Jordans premier Kabariti. He also discussed the issue of amending the PLO Covenant, the situation in Southern Lebanon and the visit of the Prime Ministers political adviser Dore Gold to the Gulf states. Excerpts:
I would like to welcome you and welcome the opportunity of hosting you in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and again I would like to hope that this will be a beginning of ongoing contact and relationship. In many respects we will be happy to have such meetings as often as possible and to be at your disposal whenever you would need us for information.
With your permission, I would like to start out with the following remark: The newly elected Israeli government is bound, is determined and dedicated to the continuation of the peace process. From the perspective of the Israeli government the peace process is ongoing and underway. If it has been interrupted it has been interrupted because of the technical problems, because of the general elections, but absolutely not because of any hesitations or any ideological constraints.
It is only natural for a newly elected government to take some time out in order to re-evaluate and reassess the situation before embarking on the implementation of its new policy. Given the complexity and the intricacy of the issues of state, a certain period of time is required in order to reach the necessary decisions before continuing with the process. We are on the verge of re-activating the process. From my point of view, following the meeting between Foreign Minister Levy and Chairman Arafat, the peace process is being resumed and under way. From now on it is a function of time and technical preparation before we get down to the business of the negotiations.
The meeting between Chairman Arafat and Foreign Minister Levy characterizes and symbolizes, more than anything else, the intent and the determination of the new Israeli government to get on with the process to progress and advance the peace process. If one adds to it the visits of Prime Minister Netanyahu to Cairo, his meeting with the Prime Minister of Jordan, Mr. Kabariti, the number of emissaries that have been sent to a number of Arab capitals, having been received in the warmest of welcomes, I think that it all adds up and amounts to a policy of the continuation of the re-activation of the peace process.
In pursuing the process it has been enunciated by Minister Levy, meeting with Chairman Arafat, that emphasis and special attention will be given to two dimensions that stand out as the most important dimension as far as the Israeli government is concerned. It is a mutual respect for the implementation of agreements and, secondly, the supreme importance of security as part and parcel, as an integral element of the peace process. The more secure the process will appear to be, the more security we will achieve, the larger, the wider, the support for the peace process will be both in Israel, among the Palestinians, and in the rest of the Arab world. Thats the premise; thats the point of departure; thats the deepest belief upon which the process is based upon from our perspective.
So this fusion, this synthesis of peace and security that go together, is the formula for the continued process and, of course, all that against the background of reconciliation of good neighborly relations, of cooperation, of technical and economic assistance of any sort. When one mentions security, one, of course, has in mind the ongoing battle against terrorism. One has to do his utmost to foil acts of terror, to combat terrorism, and also to eradicate the infrastructure of terrorism. And in that regard we received from Chairman Arafat his assurances that as far as he is and the Palestinian Authority are concerned, they have done much and that they will do their utmost to ensure that terror will be eradicated and foiled.
In this respect or in that context I would like to draw attention to this congress, or religious meeting of Islamic leaders held in Cairo a few days ago. Setting aside that we lament the fact that no Israelis had been invited, but nevertheless, the very fact that this congress announced that it took upon itself and is determined to combat terrorism in the name of God because one cannot think of something which is more contrasting in terms, is important. I think that this is a very important development. And I can only hope that this call of this particular congress will be echoed in every mosque and every synagogue and every church in the world, so that every believer will know that the belief in God does not tolerate any acts of terror that we had tragically enough witnessed in the past few months.
To conclude I started out by saying that the policy of the new government is a policy of peace. But I would like to go one step beyond. Peace for us is not only an instrument of policy. Peace for Israel is an absolute value, an absolute imperative which supersedes and goes beyond a given policy. It has to do with our innermost belief and the very ethos of the State of Israel. And thats what will guide us and thats what will encourage us in doing everything we can, and we will spare no effort in order to get the process moving, in order to see peace prevailing here in our region. Thank you.