Jerusalem, 4 June 2000
PM Barak's Remarks at Cabinet Meeting
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
At the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting today (Sunday),
4.6.2000, Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak made the
following remarks:
"We are arranging for the United Nations and the international
community to attest and define the IDF withdrawal from Lebanon to
be recognized as the implementation of UN Security Council
Resolution 425. UN personnel have already placed border stones
and are now in the final stages of an exactly demarcating the
international border. It is possible that we will have to make
further decisions and adjustments in this context but there is no
doubt that the UN's positive recognition is very significant
regarding international legitimacy and should events deteriorate
into violence."
Prime Minister Barak told the ministers about the exceptional
compliments he received from US President Bill Clinton regarding
the decision to withdraw the IDF from Lebanon. The Prime Minister
also briefed the ministers on the Lebanese government's hesitant
steps to restore normalcy to southern Lebanon and assert its
authority in the area.
Regarding the negotiations with the Palestinians, Prime Minister
Barak stated that they have been marked by Palestinian
foot-dragging expressed both in the postponement of the
discussions themselves on various pretexts and the way in which
they are conducting the talks, which he described as
"regression."
Prime Minister Barak explained that in his opinion there are two
reasons for the Palestinians' conduct: "One is tactical - they
want to divert opinion from the scandalous events of May 15, when
armed men belonging to the Palestinian police, its intelligence
bodies and the Fatah youth organizations opened fire at IDF
soldiers. The second is strategic - they want to consider the
possibility of proceeding directly to the third phase without
having to go through the framework agreement."
Prime Minister Barak said that although the Palestinian Authority
has indeed detained several of those who opened fire and has even
taken significant steps, it has still not undertaken all
necessary measures in order to assure that such events do not
recur. The Prime Minister added that there is no basis to the
Palestinians' claims on the prisoners and funds issues, two
issues in which we have not only met all of our commitments but
even gone beyond them. He noted that Israel has released more
than 100 prisoners beyond the previous government's commitment
and stressed that the delay in transferring the funds is due to
the Palestinians' footdragging.
Prime Minister Barak emphasized that the negotiations on
substantive issues are still at an early stage and that in any
case, and that reports that Israel has offered the Palestinians
92% of the territories, that Israel is prepared to either
evacuate the rest or leave 50,000 settlers under Palestinian
control, or that Israel has agreed to the entry of 300,000
refugees into the State of Israel have no basis in reality.
Prime Minister Barak stated that he has instructed the
negotiating teams not to hold any discussions on Jerusalem at
this stage and that according to the Camp David and Oslo accords,
the Palestinians will be able to raise the issue in the
discussions on the permanent settlement.
Prime Minister Barak expressed his appreciation and gratitude to
Russian President Vladimir Putin for the unrelenting efforts -
which began even before his election as President - which led to
the release of Adi Sharon who had been held as a hostage in
Chechnya, pointing out that President Putin has proven his
determination to take risks in the struggle against terrorism.
Prime Minister Barak briefed the ministers on the state of the
economy, according to data of the Central Bureau of Statistics,
that shows an upswing in business sector and exports growth since
the government was established. The Prime Minister said there is
much hard work ahead and added that it is too early to celebrate
even though the data shows preliminary signs of a drop in
unemployment. "Since the current government took office, more
than 70,000 jobs have been created. This means that we are
meeting our commitment to create 300,000 jobs in four years."
Regarding the Ben-Bassat tax reform recommendations, Prime
Minister Barak said that in 50 years, no previous government has
dared to tax capital and thereby increase the take-home pay of
all workers. The current government dares to take NIS 8 billion
annually from the top 0.7% and transfer it to the working public,
which is the backbone of the economy and society. The Prime
Minister called upon Histadrut Chairman MK Amir Peretz and the
Histadrut leadership to facilitate dialogue and added that, "It
is not fitting that the Histadrut take extreme measures before
thorough and patient dialogue."
On the issue of incitement, Prime Minister Barak said that
because he deeply respects the settlement enterprise in Judea and
Samaria and many of the people engaged therein, he is convinced
that they understand that important historical processes cannot
be stopped by violent acts.
Prime Minister Barak said, "The murder of Yitzhak Rabin was a
human and national tragedy, but it could not stop the peace
process. This is a flawed grasp of reality. The repercussions of
any political assassination would boomerang at those fighting for
the Greater Land of Israel. If there is anything that deviates
from the legitimacy of the settlers' struggle, it is acts such as
these."