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VOLUME 17: 1998-1999
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49. Summary of a meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Australian Foreign Minister Downer, 11 June 1998.
Prime Minister Netanyahu reacted to a remark by Chairman Arafat that Israel would very soon decide on the second redeployment. He said that his government was making every effort to speed up the peace process, but much depended on the Palestinian side implementing its commitments. Text:
We are making every effort to move forward on the initiative for advancing the peace process. Of course, we have our own needs: first and foremost security requirements and our insistence on reciprocity - that the Palestinians have to carry out their commitments to us in a concrete manner. Therefore, the answer to the question lies not only with me, but with [Chairman] Arafat too. If he makes the necessary efforts, then we will be able to advance these processes relatively swiftly. It is not dependent only on Israel.
The possibility of moving forward and completing this process is not only dependent on the efforts which we are making, but rather on the readiness of the Palestinians to carry out their commitments to us concretely and practically, not with promises and committees.
Convening the Palestinian National Council is still one of Israel's demands. But it is not only an Israeli demand, it is also a Palestinian commitment, which we received at the time of the Hebron accords, and we insist that they respect this. Honoring previous agreements will give value to the next agreement. This is so elementary and simple that I do not think that any citizen of Israel would disagree with this. But what we need to see is that the commitments which relate to our security, to the security of our children, are being respected; then we will be able to move forward.
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