Appearing on NBC Internet chat, the Prime Minister denied that Israel was violating the Oslo accords by its new policy in the territories. He said that the new tax credits to settlers were designed to strengthen them against terrorist activities by offering them material and moral support. Other topics included the possibility of a Palestinian state, Israel-America relations and American aid to Israel. Some 10,000 calls were logged on this Internet program. Text:
Host MSNBC: Welcome to the MSNBC Chat Auditorium!
Our guest is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the first major head-of-state to address the world directly in this way via the Internet.
Benjamin Netanyahu left the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1967 and immediately entered the Israeli military, where he served in an elite anti-terrorism unit. He is the author of two books on terrorism and editor of several others. He served as the chargé daffaires at the Israeli embassy in Washington during the early 1980s, and then became Israels ambassador to the United Nations between 1984 and 1988. In 1993 he was elected chairman of the Likud bloc an amazing rise to prominence for a man who had spent much of his life outside the country. He was elected Israels Prime Minister in June in the closest and most divisive election in the countrys history. Welcome, Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Prime Minister Netanyahu: I am very pleased to have the opportunity to have this computerized fireside chat. There is so much misinformation about Israel and its policies that I very much welcome the chance to set the record straight about our determination to achieve peace with security. So please fire away.
Host MSNBC: Aly: How do you view U.S. support/intervention in the peace process, and how much of a consideration is American foreign aid in setting policy?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: The United States, Aly, is Israels partner and ally, and we value American support in the peace process. Without that support, I doubt that we would have reached the peace agreements with Egypt, with Jordan, or with the Palestinians, a process in which we are still engaged with the Americans. U.S. financial aid is important, especially in the military sphere but it touches less on policy than on an ongoing U.S. commitment to assist in Israels defenses.
Host MSNBC: Why did you decide on expanding the settlements? Dont you think you made that decision too quickly?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: We made a decision to support the Israeli residents of Judea and Samaria who have been under ferocious attacks by terrorists. The purpose of the terrorists is to terrify, to frighten and weaken the resolve of Israelis. We have decided to strengthen these potential and real victims of terror by offering them material and moral support in the form of various tax incentives that are common to the residents of the Jordan valley, the Golan and the Gaza district. Contrary to what is implied in your question, we did not decide on expropriating land or on construction of new settlements.
Host MSNBC: JustWondering: Mr. Prime Minister, why should Israel be getting 3 billion dollars a year in U.S. aid at this point?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: The United States views Israel as both a strategic ally and as the only democracy in the Middle East and as such it is deemed worthy of American support. There are numerous studies that have been made over the years, most notably by Professor Steven Spiegel in California, which have calculated the benefits of Israeli cooperation to the United States military and national security. We, of course, are grateful for this American assistance and view it as indispensable for advancing the peace process, something that a weak Israel would not be able to undertake.
Host MSNBC: Scott: How do you envision linking the Palestinian residents of Gaza and the West Bank into Israels economy and providing economic growth to these areas?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: This is a critical aspect for peace, Scott. I believe we should have free access for Palestinian workers into the Israeli economy, security conditions being the only limitation. We also need to develop industrial parks on the seam line between the Palestinian and Israeli areas and encourage investment of private enterprise there. And finally donor countries should realize their pledges to contribute to infrastructure projects in the Palestinian areas (in such fields as roads, electrification, sewage control, communications, etc.)
Host MSNBC: NirT: Mr. Prime Minister, Israel is a democratic country. In a democratic country, agreements signed by its former government, even if the current government doesnt approve of them, must be fulfilled. How can you say this is happening?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: Because it is happening. We are committed to fulfilling our side of the Oslo Accords and we expect the Palestinian side to do the same. We have offered reasonable and pragmatic suggestions to finalize the Hebron redeployment, but so far the Palestinian side has not responded in kind. They also have not yet filled their commitments in such areas as abrogating the PLO Charter that calls for Israels destruction, extraditing to Israel known terrorists, collecting illegal arms and dismantling the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations. Nevertheless, I remain hopeful that we can progress on the peace track by having both, I repeat both, sides fulfill their respective obligations. An agreement that is kept by only one side, I am sure you will agree with me, is no agreement at all.
Host MSNBC: NETA: Mr. Prime Minister: What do you feel about a Palestinian state?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: We believe that a proper solution should balance the Palestinians need to run their own affairs with Israels need for security. A Palestinian state, with its own army, air force, military pacts and the like, poised on the hills overlooking a 12 kilometer-wide Israel, would constitute a grave security threat to Israel. Therefore I believe that a different solution is in order. One in which the Palestinians would be free to run their own affairs, but certain powers that relate to Israels most basic interests, most notably security, would be left in Israels control (or in some cases shared between Israel and the Palestinian Authority).
Host MSNBC: Yehuda: Arafat asked the Palestinians to take to the streets to defend the West Bank and Gaza. Your comment?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: Well, Yehuda, I would prefer a more prudent approach that would quiet passions rather than kindle them. Peace has to be pursued peacefully, and not under the continual threat of violence.
Host MSNBC: Prime Minister, several have asked a version of this question. Is it not a violation of the peace accords, which forbid changing the status of the occupied territories, to offer tax incentives for the development of settlements?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: No it is not. In fact, in no way are we limiting the flow of funds from Arab countries to the Palestinian communities in these same territories. Furthermore, as Prime Minister Rabin explained in the Knesset [the Israeli Parliament], the Oslo Accords in no way prohibit Israeli settlement activity. This is a common misconception and I welcome the opportunity to correct it.
Host MSNBC: Bachir: Dont you think that starting to pull out from south Lebanon would be a positive move towards peace?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: Yes, Bachir, I do. In fact, I have offered precisely this idea to stimulate the achievement of peace between Israel and Syria, and naturally between Israel and Lebanon. Unfortunately, Syria has not taken up our offer, and a unilateral withdrawal without appropriate Syrian and Lebanese guarantees could merely advance the Hizbullah terrorists to the Israeli-Lebanese border, thus putting the entire population of the north of Israel at risk. Nevertheless, I am convinced that in the course of peace talks with Syria, we shall be able to solve this problem as well.
Host MSNBC: TAL: Im a student in the Gimnasia Realit (a high school in Israel). My question is, does the government have any future plans for recruiting religious Jews to the army?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: Not at the moment. But some of the leaders of the haredi community have themselves served in the army, and others speak of ideas of national service within special framework.
Host MSNBC: Thats all the time the Prime Minister has for today! Thanks for joining us today!