The briefing was, as usual, divided into two parts. The first, open to the press, dealt with an incident that occurred on 2 July when a PA leader tried to force his way on a security road and was stopped by the IDF. The Prime Minister spoke about the absence of Palestinian compliance. The second part, closed to the media, dealt with the issue of Jerusalem, the UN debate on the upgrading of the PLO mission and on the FRDs. Following is the first part of the briefing:
As is our custom, I'll say a few words before the cameras and then go into greater detail without the cameras.
We have been engaged in a continuous effort to try to achieve an agreement to be able to conclude an interim settlement with the Palestinians, with the assistance of the United States, and to launch the final settlement talks from there. We have achieved considerable progress on the Israeli side of the ledger. There are many gaps that have been closed. There is a remaining gap that involves something that could be considerably bridged, possibly bridged, by some American bridging proposals, if the Palestinians accept them. So I believe we are much closer to solving the redeployment issues. In many ways we've already solved the third redeployment and we are very close or considerably close to solving the second redeployment issue between Israel and the United States.
When I look at the other side of the ledger, that is not the case. As we stand and where we stand today, the Palestinians adamantly refuse to comply with the obligations they gave us repeatedly. They gave us the same obligations in Oslo I five years ago, in Oslo II three years ago, and in the Hebron agreements one year ago. And these obligations, that are not new, have not been fulfilled.
We seek now not words and promises, but implementation on a specific timetable with specific steps taken and verification mechanisms to ensure that things that are agreed upon are indeed carried out. We're talking about such things as the collection of illegal weapons, the arrest of leading terrorists, the fighting of the infrastructure, the stopping or cessation of hostile propaganda, the reduction of the Palestinian police to specific numbers that are in the agreement, the annulment of the covenant by the PNC, and of course the extradition of terrorists that were supposed to be extradited long ago. We are saying all this because on none of these issues do we get satisfactory responses. We seek those responses because the only way we can move forward is by having an agreement that is kept by both sides - not just by Israel - which carries out all the other obligations under the Hebron accords.
Israel has a very little gap to complete its outstanding obligations, whereas on the Palestinian side, there is a persistent refusal to do anything concrete. We're not dealing now with theoretical plans, we're not dealing in abstract principles, we're not answering anything in principle. We are not getting specific answers - and Israel is giving answers on its side of the ledger, its obligations - and we are seeking specific answers from the Palestinians.
What is holding up the achievement of an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians is the persistent Palestinian refusal to live up to their obligations in a concrete way. The issue is not what Israel is prepared to give - it is prepared to give considerably - but it is the Palestinians' unwillingness to give anything of substance. This is the hurdle. We wish as far as possible to maintain these contracts and to try to see them to conclusion. Therefore, I'm limited to what I can say in great detail. But what I can say is that if I open up the books now, and people look at what Israel is willing to give and what the Palestinians are unwilling to give, any fair-minded observer will say this is what is holding it up.
Unfortunately, this Palestinian refusal to live up to the obligations has been compounded by the events of last night. What we saw there was a deliberate provocation, a deliberate Palestinian provocation. A leading member of the PA who tried to challenge Israel's right to police a sensitive security road. Under the practical arrangement on the ground, under the agreement that has been working since the Oslo agreement was put into place, Israel has overall security responsibility and it decides which certain roads under the agreement can be traversed in what way. That understanding is something we've been talking to the Palestinians about through negotiation. Yesterday, there was an attempt to use force to unilaterally decide something that was perfectly within Israel's right. This, I'm afraid, is a major violation of the Oslo understandings.
Now, we will not allow the threat of force, or the use of force, to change existing agreements. And we seek, as we always do, to solve these issues without violence. We were able to do so last night. But it should be clear that Israel will not yield on its rights on security. This road will continue to be policed by Israel, by Israel's security considerations. Without it, absolutely nothing can be achieved even by attempts of violence, or threats of violence, or the use of violence. In fact the opposite will happen: if violence is attempted, Israel will respond.
When we talk of Palestinian compliance, it is not on the theoretical plane. I think you can understand why we insist that there be compliance with the obligations that were given to us, including Israel's security responsibility. You can also understand how sensitive we are to the issue of redeployment, which can place tens of thousands of Israelis, including tens of thousands of Israeli children, at great peril, anytime the Palestinians decide to violate the agreements which are in place, as they did last night.
So the way to enforce this is first of all through fidelity to the agreement, keeping the agreement, which means the Palestinians have to keep their side. For too long, they have been allowed to get away with making violations, without any attention by the international community to the substance of the agreement, or the form. One of the things I'd like to do today is to give you a little more detail of these obligations and how they are not kept. And the second thing is to adopt the literal principle that all of us understand, and that is that disagreements, differences of opinions and conflicts are resolved in a peace process, peacefully. They are not resolved through violence, and we will not allow them to be resolved through violence. The violence will set the Palestinians back, and it will set the peace process back. I call them to stop the use of violence, to stop the provocations, to stop the violations of the agreement and to get back to the path of peace, to achieve peace.