In the following interview, the Prime Minister talked about his vision for peace in which the Palestinians would have their own territory and ability to govern themselves inside that area, but would not have a large, well-armed field army. He was not happy with the phrase "Palestinian statehood", and looked for a balance between Israel's security needs and the Palestinians need to govern themselves. He admitted that there were difficult moments with the Clinton Administration, mainly over Israel's security needs. The Prime Minister repeated his offer to Arafat to negotiate a permanent settlement, and warned against any unilateral act such as proclamation of Palestinian independence on 4 May 1999. Text:
Question: I've heard that you and U.S. Middle East Envoy Dennis Ross have discussed a new proposal - allowing the Palestinians to build in certain Israeli-held areas near the Jordan Valley.
Prime Minister Netanyahu: We're discussing a number of possibilities to bridge the gaps, but we haven't made any final determination. I think Mr. Ross saw a serious effort on the part of the Israeli government.
There are two principles which we believe are essential for peace. One is that the Palestinians fulfill the promises they gave us to fight terrorism and annul their covenant, and the second is that the U.S. recognize the need for Israel to determine its security needs and hence the area from which it will withdraw.
Question: What is your vision of peace with the Palestinians and what is your strategy to get there?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: My vision is that at the end of the final settlement, the Palestinians will be able to have their own territory and the ability to govern themselves inside that territory but none of the powers that could threaten Israel.
Question: In other words, they won't be able to have a defense capability?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: They would be able to have local law and order capabilities, but they shouldn't be able to field a large army or to import weapons that could effectively neutralize Israel's defenses.
Question: So there will be no Palestinian state?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: My opposition to the word "statehood" is because it tends to encompass those unlimited powers that could threaten Israel. I have no problem with the Palestinians running their own lives. Therefore, I envision a final settlement which is a balance of the Palestinians' need to run their own affairs and our need to protect Israel's security. I believe that this government can strike a balance and deliver an agreement which the overwhelming majority of Israelis can stand by.
Question: Your right-wing supporters oppose a deal that would hand over more land to the Palestinians.
Prime Minister Netanyahu: I made it very clear that if Arafat and the Palestinian Authority keep their side of the bargain...
Question: In other words, no matter what conditions your right-wing supporters lay down, you can deliver?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: Yes. The primary issue for me is not the coalition. It's a coalition of one, myself. If I'm convinced that the Palestinians will do in concrete terms what they are expected to do - to arrest terrorists, to collect weapons, to hand over killers, to annul the charter and such - then no coalition will prevent me from delivering on our side of the bargain.
Question: Your relationship with the Clinton administration does not appear to be successful. Please comment.
Prime Minister Netanyahu: It's had its difficult moments. Over the years, we've had divided views between American presidents and Israeli prime ministers on Israel's security needs. We had Eisenhower and Ben-Gurion differing on the Sinai; Ford differing with Rabin during the reassessment in 1975; Reagan and Begin clashing over Lebanon...
Question: Do you and President Clinton have a fundamental difference?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: In comparison to those disagreements, this is a milder case.
Question: Is it true that the Palestinians only arrest terrorists when Israel presents them with intelligence?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: They only act on a specific tip that we give them. For example, if we say that terrorist X, living on street Y in city Z, is about to launch a terrorist act against Israel, they'll pick him up. But they don't do systematic sweeps and interrogations. They're not making the difficult choice, which Egypt and Jordan have made. The choice is whom do you want to make peace with: Israel or the terrorists? It's one or the other, but not both.
Question: Do you want to move to final status talks?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: Sure. Both Arafat and myself expend an enormous amount of political capital on interim steps which in the public mind lead nowhere.
Question: People wonder if you intend to make peace, or if you are just stalling.
Prime Minister Netanyahu: I think the American people have a very healthy appreciation of Israel's desire for peace and of my desire for peace.
Question: But do you have a vision of living in peace one day with the Palestinians?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: Yes, I do, not one day - soon. If Arafat accepts my offer to negotiate a permanent settlement, we could have a historic breakthrough with the one government that can deliver. I hope it happens during this term.
Question: What happens if Arafat unilaterally declares a Palestinian state on 4 May 1999, the original deadline for a permanent status agreement?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: I wouldn't recommend unilateral action. Unilateral Palestinian actions always run the risk of unilateral Israeli actions. Israel cannot be thrown back to the indefensible 1967 boundaries and Jerusalem will never be re-divided.
Question: Do you have any hope of a treaty with Syria?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: Yes, I do. If Syria is less rigid about the conditions for restarting the negotiations, I believe we could make progress. In any case, we have decided that after 20 years of our stay in Lebanon, our objective is to withdraw once we have the necessary security arrangements.
Question: Turning to Israel's celebration of its 50th anniversary...
Prime Minister Netanyahu: You never had worse odds for a people than the Jewish people had 50 years ago when we were at the abyss of death and destruction, when it seemed like you could never mobilize our will to live again. And yet, within a very short time, we established our independence in our ancient land, reunited our capital, revived an ancient language and produced one of the most advanced technological economies in the world. We have begun to complete a circle of peace, first with Egypt and Jordan and soon, I believe, with the Palestinians and the Syrians and the Lebanese. I think this is more than the founding fathers of Israel could have imagined 50 years ago.