The key point of the Wye River agreement, according to the Prime Minister, was in its structuring. Israel would give some territory and the Palestinian Authority had to carry out its commitments. He also spoke about the new sense of trust that developed between him and Chairman Arafat.
On the matter of Jonathan Pollard's release, the Prime Minister said he had hoped that Pollard would be able to come to Israel on the Prime Minister's plane, but that there was a review process that the President was bound to respect.
The Prime Minister explained that Israel's withdrawal costs would amount to more than one billion dollars, and that the President would request Congress to allocate this sum in addition to funds for Palestinian economic development. Finally, he explained the reasons for his opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Text:
Wolf Blitzer: Prime Minister Netanyahu, over the next three months, the hard work in implementing this agreement begins. What are your biggest fears right now?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: I have hopes, and my hope is that the structure we put in place, which was so lacking in the Oslo Accords in the peace process, will now work. What we've introduced is a series of checks and balances to this process.
Before now, Israel was going to give, and give, and give. The Palestinians were to receive, and receive, and receive. We were to give territory, and basically they were to receive it. Now we've come back to the original premises of the deal, and that is that we give them territory, but they commit to fight the terrorists in that territory, to annul their covenant that calls for Israel's destruction, and the other things they're committed to.
We've structured it in a way that we give some territory, they do certain things, we give some territory. They do other things, we give some territory, and so on. I hope that this process will work; my fear is, of course, that it will not. But I hope that there's no reason why it shouldn't. It should work. It's good for both sides.
Mr. Blitzer: You know that there will be enemies of this agreement, who will try to derail it in different ways, including the use of terrorism. If there's another terrorist incident, for example, what will you be looking for in order to prevent Israel from curtailing its own troop withdrawal, which is supposed to be phased in over those next few months?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: We know that there could be terrorist attacks here and there that the Palestinian Authority cannot control; it's not a hermetically sealed situation. But we also know that when they do what they're supposed to do, and they cooperate with us, then the likelihood is that we can prevent these outrages, especially the mass killings that we saw one after the other in the first two-and-a-half years of Oslo.
I hope that this will be the case. In any case, we have excellent information, excellent intelligence which we share with you fully. We will know and you will know whether they do their part. I hope they do their part.
Mr. Blitzer: You spoke, as did the other leaders, about George Tenet, the Director of the CIA. What will the CIA do in these kinds of situations if there are terrorist incidents, and they have to go in there and investigate, together with the Palestinian security services?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: The CIA is expected to do a fair job of monitoring many of the specific provisions of this agreement, and to ensure that the things are done; for example, that terrorists do not go into jail - Palestinian jails - and then leave by the proverbial "revolving door" over the weekend.
Mr. Blitzer: Which is a huge operation. They're going to have a lot of people monitoring that kind of situation.
Prime Minister Netanyahu: I think they have the capability, and I don't think there's a lack of information. What we have to do is be honest and monitor things as they are; if there are violations, we must confront them not look aside, because lives are at stake. The security of Israel is at stake.
We can always give territory, and not have the Palestinians fight the terrorists that are there. That would create a huge growth of the Hamas terrorist monster to the detriment of both Israel and the Palestinians, and the detriment of peace. So, my expectation is for the United States and its agencies to do what they can to ensure compliance. This is the basis of peace.
Mr. Blitzer: Why did you pick the CIA to do this?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: I didn't pick the CIA. The U.S. picked the CIA.
Mr. Blitzer: It was the U.S.'s idea that you have the CIA referee these disputes?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: We don't build into American representation. We're perfectly happy when the arrangement's made.
Mr. Blitzer: Let's move on and talk about your new relationship with Yasser Arafat. On Saturday, The New York Times had an editorial in which they said that you looked at ease for the first time at that Friday signing ceremony with Yasser Arafat. The editorial said, quote, "The distrust and stiffness between the leaders seemed to be gone, replaced by the kind of respect and partnership that can make a permanent peace possible in the Middle East." Tell us about your relationship with Yasser Arafat right now.
Prime Minister Netanyahu: I think it's based exactly on the idea of mutuality. I'm asked to take very, very difficult decisions, ones that put my own political future at risk. And I'm prepared to do it, providing I don't put my country at risk. That's what I labor to do, and I say that to Arafat.
At the end of the day, we have tremendous appreciation for President Clinton's role and involvement. He did very important things. He has a tremendous and detailed understanding of the issues of the parties. But he said, and he was right, that we two have to end up doing it.
At a certain point, we were stuck deeply in the mud. I asked Arafat to sit with me privately. We were in a very large home, and our delegations were there, and it just wasn't moving. I said to him, "Mr. Chairman, why don't you put on a piece of paper the two most important issues for you, and I'll put on the other side of the ledger the two most important issues for me. And let's see if we can resolve that, then everything else will fall in place." He said, "I agree." And that's what we did. He said forthrightly what was important to him; I did the same on our side. And it came unglued.
Mr. Blitzer: The Foreign Minister, Ariel Sharon, who has played a very important role in these Wye negotiations, still refuses to shake his hand, though.
Prime Minister Netanyahu: I can understand that. Ariel Sharon, who has spent a lifetime protecting Israel, fighting terrorism, is one of the greatest generals that the Jewish people have produced in modern times - perhaps the greatest general that Israel has produced. You cannot expect the layers of suffering and agony on the battlefields of Israel to be wiped away at one shot.
But I respect Sharon greatly for coming to the Wye talks, for assisting me, for being in that room, for taking part in those conversations, including with Arafat, and putting our position forthrightly and fairly and decently. I think it was a very important act on his part, and I think the Palestinians appreciated it.
Mr. Blitzer: How did it come about Friday morning that the Jonathan J. Pollard issue disrupted this peace signing ceremony for so many hours? What happened?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: The issue of Pollard was not presented by us at that time. It had been raised previously by me, and previously to Washington, including on the first day of the Wye talks.
Mr. Blitzer: Directly to the President?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: Yes. All I can say is that I hope that we would find a way to release Pollard. He did a terrible thing. He did a thing that he has paid for. He has been, now, virtually in solitary confinement for 13 years. He did what he did not to hurt the United States, but in a mistaken effort to help Israel against Saddam Hussein, against Iraq itself.
He shouldn't have done it. He's paid dearly for it. I had hoped that in the course of winding up this negotiation, where I'm asked to free hundreds - 750 - Palestinian prisoners, who have committed crimes against Israel - and I'm going to - that the same will happen here, that there would be an opportunity to find this moment of clemency.
The President explained to me that there's a process, a review process that he must go through and I hope that he and his colleagues who'll make this evaluation will find pity in their hearts to forgive.
Mr. Blitzer: But did you have any reason to believe Friday morning he would release Jonathan Pollard, and he might even fly home with you on your plane?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: I certainly had hoped that that would happen - not necessarily that he would fly back on the plane, but that he would be released. And I still hope that he will be released.
Mr. Blitzer: There was one suggestion by one Israeli official, who said to me directly that the President reneged on a commitment.
Prime Minister Netanyahu: I'm just not going to get into this whole area. I accept that the President will make a deep and introspective look into this. And I hope that he finds the way and the will to allow us to bring back this person, who did wrong for America, but did it for a reason he believed was just.
You know, I've looked at the years in which the United States fought for its MIAs, and sometimes even for its agents. I've always respected that. Essentially, that's what we're trying to do. He served his time, and he's paid a heavy price. I just hope that out of totally humanitarian reasons, he will be set free and allowed to go to Israel.
Mr. Blitzer: One last question on this point, though. Do you have any commitments from the President, any understanding beyond what he said publicly, that he would review it?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: He merely said that he would review it, and he did not tell me what the outcome of that review would be.
Mr. Blitzer: OK. The President also said that, as part of this agreement, he would ask Congress to appropriate additional funds to help Israel pay for the security, redeployment, and the Palestinians to develop their economic infrastructure. How much money does Israel need to help with this new troop withdrawal?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: It's a considerable effort on our part, because the areas that we're redeploying from are substantial. We are taking away our troops from areas that overlook our eastern border. So we have to accommodate for that - the relocation of camps - and it costs a lot. For example, we will need roads that will allow the Israeli defense forces to reach a potential eastern front in ways that they cannot do right now. They don't need to right now, because they're right on it.
This redeployment is significant. It's substantial. I don't want to name a price now. We've discussed it. I think the right thing to do is to allow our friends in Congress to look at it. I spoke today to majority leader Gingrich. He said he would be happy to look into it, that he understands that there would be attendant costs, and that he will look at it with a fair-minded eye. And I appreciate that.
Mr. Blitzer: Are you talking tens of millions, hundreds of millions, billions of dollars? Give us a ballpark.
Prime Minister Netanyahu: Billions includes an "s." That's a lot.
Mr. Blitzer: One billion?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: We won't go into numbers.
Mr. Blitzer: Is that within the range?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: It's certainly an expensive proposition for us.
Mr. Blitzer: I know that the really hard negotiations are about to begin, for the so-called "final status issues". The Palestinians will say they want a state by May 4, 1999 - that's when these negotiations are supposed to conclude. Will you ever allow the Palestinians to have an independent state?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: Do you know why I oppose a Palestinian state? For a simple reason. How wide is this city - 10 miles, 12 miles? I think it's 13 miles wide. It's actually wider than what Israel would be if we'd had a full-fledged Palestinian state on its borders. So this tiny Israel would have to protect itself against Saddam Hussein, against Iran, against all these assorted powers to our east, which would have more weaponry than NATO did at the height of the Cold War. Tiny Israel, on a speck of sand.
Obviously, we want to secure ourselves, protect ourselves. One of the ways to protect ourselves is to ensure that the Palestinians will have all the things they need to have to run their own lives, but none of the powers to threaten our life. That's the structure of a deal that we will now have to enter and negotiate.
They can have all the powers to govern themselves. They do, by the way, control all the Palestinian population right now. There are no more "occupied", end quote, Palestinians. Ninety-eight percent of them live under Palestinian rule. But one thing I cannot accept is that the Palestinian entity would have the ability to make military pacts with a "Saddam Hussein", who'll bring Iranian soldiers to the hills above Tel Aviv. These are the prerogatives of sovereign countries, and we'd have to curtail certain sovereign powers if peace - a workable peace and a durable peace - would exist.
Mr. Blitzer: Your predecessor, Yitzhak Rabin, paid the price of peace. He was assassinated as a result of his desire to make peace with the Arabs, assassinated by an Israeli. Do you think about that concern? Because when you're going to be back in Israel, you're going to have a lot of people in Israel who are going to be bitterly opposed to this latest agreement, accusing you of betrayal, selling out. How concerned are you, right now, about your personal security?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: I've said that I'm willing to take on a personal, political risk - and I have - but not to take risks with the security of my country. I stood very firm on our security and our national interests.
As far as the personal, physical risk is concerned, well, I'm aware of the fact that the heads of the Hamas organization, the terrorists, have virtually put a price on my head, and said that I'm the Number One target. So, the danger can come from many quarters, probably from an organized killing machine, more than from other places. But it could come from anywhere.
My only answer to that is this: the minute leaders start to accept that, to begin to think about that, and to make their policies based on personal, political risk - or rather, personal risk of any kind, but especially physical risk - then you're completely immobilized, and countries, nations and governments become paralyzed.
So the answer to your question is I'm aware of it, I just don't think about it. I put it to the side and I get on with the job of securing a better future for my children, the children of Israel, and the children of our neighbors, the Palestinians, and I would hope, in the not too distant future, the children of Syria, the children of Lebanon, and perhaps other countries, as well.