Speech by Director General of the Israel Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Mr. Eytan Bentsur
Conference to Support Middle East Peace and Development
Washington, D.C.
November 30, 1998
Mr. Chairman, distinguished members of the dais, ladies and
gentlemen,
Allow me to begin by expressing our deep appreciation to the hosts,
the President of the United States of America, and Secretary Albright
for the important and long-standing contribution towards the
achievement of a true peace in our region. We commend President
Clinton's call to strengthen bilateral and regional cooperation, thus
creating an atmosphere conducive to peace. The resumption of
normalization and the multilateral tracks is yet another peace
dividend.
Also I would like to thank the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and
the Norwegian Foreign Minister for successfully directing the donors
framework, a role that Norway has played with great ability since its
inception, and the representatives of the European Union for the
extensive European assistance to the Palestinian economy.
This conference is taking place today in Washington, the very place
where the Wye Memorandum was signed just over a month ago, an accord
that represents a significant step forward in the peace process. We
aspired that the Wye River Memorandum will bring with it a new spirit
of hope to our peoples and region. I was therefore disappointed to
hear Chairman Arafat's remarks this morning which are neither in the
spirit nor letter of the agreement just signed. The time has come to
open a new chapter in the process. It was lamentable to elaborate on
the motion of closure when everybody in this hall knows that for more
than a year and a half Israel has imposed no closure.
This conference should serve to show that the peace process must not
remain only in the political sphere. It must be strengthened by
social and economic agreements which will improve the quality of life
of the people of the region in general, and of the Palestinians in
particular, and contribute to a stable and lasting peace. Israel
wholeheartedly shares this belief. The international community has
been very active in the last five years in assisting the Palestinian
economy. Israel has taken an active part in this assistance. But we
all know, this has not always been easy: the difficult security
situation and the terrorist attacks that we have suffered have
undermined the stability of the region, which is a precondition for
any economic growth.
Closures have never been Israel's choice. Much has been said here
today about the effect of closures on the Palestinian economy.
Unfortunately we find it necessary to remind this assembly of the
reasons that led to imposing closures. Closures have never been
Israeli policy, but a last resort reaction to vicious terrorist
attacks. We don't want to dwell on exaggerated numbers referring to
the so-called cost of closures, but leave with you a thought of how
many human lives have been saved by us taking precautions to protect
our citizens. I wonder how countries gathered here would have reacted
had they been subjected to acts of terror. That is why any advice to
do otherwise when it comes to Israel is absolutely redundant.
Recognizing the importance of employment in Israel for Palestinian
household earnings, we have taken many steps in recent years to widen
the circle of Palestinian employment. As a result of these steps the
number of Palestinians employed in Israel has risen significantly.
This is Israel's policy, which takes risks for peace and for
strengthening the Palestinian economy.
Israel intends to continue this policy in cooperation with the
Palestinian Authority, based on the following principles:
- Increasing the number of Palestinians employed in Israel by adding
50,000 workers with permits.
- Employment stability, a principle upon which the continuous
employment program is based, which was implemented successfully for
the first time some two months ago, and which enables tens of
thousands of workers to go on working in Israel, even during periods
of high security tension.
- Cooperation with the Palestinian Authority in creating employment
opportunities.
In addition, we have been active in promoting the private sector,
which represents the future engine of growth for the Palestinian
economy. In order to achieve this goal, we have taken a number of
steps, including the following:
- Supporting the establishment of industrial zones, with the aim of
creating tens of thousands of employment opportunities, and promoting
industrial infrastructure in the territories.
- Assisting Palestinian businessmen and facilitating their movement.
To date, 21,00 permits have been issued.
- Improving the efficiency of the passages, so as to facilitate the
movement of peoples and goods.
- Improving import and export procedures.
- Assisting specific economic sectors.
International assistance and aid to support peace in our region is of
vital importance. This aid should continue to be directed at specific
programs with maximum transparency and accountability to guarantee
best results, and everyone around should share this goal. Everybody
in this hall knows full well why transparency is so badly needed.
The economic relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority
are based on the Economic Protocol of the Interim Agreement - the
Paris Protocol. As a result of this agreement, Israel is transferring
significant sums to the Palestinian Authority that make up more than
60 percent of the revenues of its budget. This year Israel has
transferred some 500 million dollars. In the last five years we have
transferred to the Palestinians more than 1.7 billion dollars.
Excellencies,
We are gathered here today not merely to review achievements of the
past but mainly to prepare ourselves for future challenges. When we
analyze the situation in the Middle East in general, and our region
in particular, one issue is of paramount importance: the water
problem.
The region faces a common and critical problem - the serious shortage
of water. This problem has existed ever since the days of the Bible.
It affects our basic ability to develop and survive. Within fifteen
years, there will be a shortage of hundreds of millions of cubic
meters. We have to start acting immediately! The only solution is
desalination of the seawater. The international community together
with the people of the area should strive to create high capacity
desalination projects which can be built in stages. It is our belief
that we should start the implementation of desalination projects for
Gaza.
Israel believes that the donors have played a very substantial role
in the advancement of the Palestinian economy. Therefore the existing
frameworks of the donors is the most efficient and appropriate. In
Wye Plantation both Prime Minister Netanyahu and Chairman Arafat
agreed that peace in our region will be achieved through negotiations
and understanding. It was also agreed that parties will refrain from
unilateral acts. We were appalled by remarks made earlier today. We
would appreciate Chairman Arafat's commitment to work in unison with
Israel to resolve our differences. The parties must adopt a new code
of conduct that will resolve problems in direct bilateral
negotiations and not through castigation.
Excellencies,
We are ready to continue to take upon ourselves calculated risks to
enhance peace, security and economic growth for the benefit of the
Palestinians and the entire region. This will be possible only in an
environment of security, stability, cooperation and mutual
understanding and manifestations of normalization.
In this regard, we have decided to pledge 65 million dollars of
assistance to the Palestinian economy over the next three years, of
which 15 million dollars are to be utilized in the areas of water,
sewage and infrastructure, and a sum of 50 million dollars in risk
insurance for capital investments to Israeli entrepreneurs who will
invest in the industrial parks of the Palestinian Authority.