In the morning of 1 January 1997, an Israeli soldier opened fire on Palestinians in Hebron. A number of Palestinians were injured. No one was killed, The soldier was arrested and later charged. The Prime Minister called on Arabs and Jews in Hebron to act with restraint. The following remarks were made by the Prime Minister to members of the foreign press. Text:
On behalf of all Israels citizens, I want to express my shock and revulsion at the crime committed in Hebron today. We condemn it completely. It is a despicable crime.
We still dont know if anyone was killed in Hebron today. We hope and we pray that there wont be any further fatalities as a result of this attack. We extend our wishes for a speedy recovery to all those wounded in this attack, and I expressed these sentiments directly in a phone call to Chairman Arafat a short while ago. We all have to do whatever we can to restore calm and tranquillity, and law and order, to Hebron. I have spoken to the Minister of Defense, who is en route to Hebron to help quiet things. I have instructed the heads of our security arms to do everything that is necessary to restore stability in the city.
I call on all residents of Hebron both Jews and Arabs alike to act with restraint and with responsibility. There have been recently acts of violence on both sides and against both sides. There were Molotov cocktails hurled, there was physical aggression. All this must stop. We have to start a new era of peaceful coexistence with security in Hebron.
From the initial reports that have reached my office, it appears that this act, this crime, was committed by someone who tried to obstruct the impending agreement on Hebron. Someone, by the way, who is from outside the city of Hebron.
I think the agreement we have been laboring on for several months has been designed to prevent precisely such acts of violence. I have said repeatedly that undue delay in its conclusion and its implementation creates a twilight period of uncertainty and instability that could induce the kind of attacks that we have seen today. And that is why we are committed to the speedy resolution of this agreement, properly concluded, and no crime will stand in our way of doing so.
I again call on all Palestinians and Israelis, inside and outside of Hebron, to act and demonstrate responsibility and restraint. We have to live side by side with each other. This has been ordained by history and by geography. We have to do so in security and coexistence. The way of peace is the only way to assure that we achieve these aims, it is our only alternative.