Interview with Prime Minister Ehud Barak on CNN Late Edition
July 18, 1999
Host: Wolf Blitzer
BLITZER: Meanwhile, there are developments in the search for peace in the
Middle East. Israel's new Prime Minister Ehud Barak is in the middle of a
six day trip to the United States, his first since taking office earlier
this month. Mr. Barak has made it clear he plans to try to get Middle East
peace talks moving once again. Last night I spoke with the prime
minister.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Mr. Prime Minister, thank you so much for joining us on your
visit to the United States, and being on LATE EDITION. It's a great honor
to interview you here during your visit -- your first visit as prime
minister.
EHUD BARAK, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: It just so happens that you come at a very sad moment in the
United States, with the disappearance of John F. Kennedy Jr.'s plane, his
wife, her sister. What goes through your mind, as the leader of a country
that has itself gone through many tragedies over these years?
BARAK: We always feel empathy when we see tragedies occur and few families
on earth have lived through so many tragedies, like the Kennedy family. I
extend on behalf of myself and the people of Israel our thoughts and
prayers to the Kennedy and Bessette families.
BLITZER: Thank you. Let's move on now to the reason why you've come to the
United States. You've been prime minister for a couple of weeks. You're
trying to advance the peace process. There's talk now that you've sort of
set an informal deadline of about 15 months to see if you can achieve
peace with the Palestinians, the Syrians and the Lebanese. Do you think
you can?
BARAK: We will wait and see. But I feel that it is kind of imperative upon
us to make whatever we can, to leave no stone unturned on the road to
peace. And I'm determined to do it. This is the essence of the mandate I
got from the Israeli people to strengthen Israel, to strengthen our
security, and to make a real effort to put an end to this one hundred year
conflict.
BLITZER: There seems to be some confusion, at least here in the United
States, as to what role you want the United States, the Clinton
administration to play on the Palestinian front and on the Syrian front.
Do you want the United States to be involved in both tracks, or be more of
a bystander?
BARAK: I believe that the major responsibility to achieve a solution lies
on the shoulders of regional leaders and we have to solve it between
ourselves. The United States could facilitate the whole possibility of the
process, and it can help us by providing both the political umbrella and
somehow the security and financial safety net.
BLITZER: Do you believe that the Syrian President Hafez al-Assad is ready
to make peace with Israel?
BARAK: I hope and I pray that the answer is positive, but only God knows.
I cannot predict it in a foolproof way. It is my judgment that the time is
right, there is an urgent need, it is a strategic need for Israel and
Syria as well. We are ready. If they will be a partner, we will move
forward towards peace.
BLITZER: Have you received some encouraging reports that President al-As
sad is ready to negotiate -- to revive negotiations with Israel?
BARAK: Well, we've got a few such signals, we assess President Assad as a
highly capable leader. He was a big and tough rival in the battlefield, he
won't be an easy partner for negotiations, but it is an imperative, as
I've said, upon us to do whatever we can. Those of us who have seen wars
know, maybe better than others, what it means to be ultimately at peace in
our region.
BLITZER: What are the prospects that he will agree to meet with you?
BARAK: I don't know, we will see during the next few months.
BLITZER: But do you think those prospects are realistic?
BARAK: Looking into the past, I've just spent a night at Camp David, we
walked together with President Clinton to see the place where President
Sadat and Prime Minister Begin and President Carter made the decisive
breakthrough in the Camp David agreement with the Egyptians 21 years ago.
And I believe that the same way that Sadat at a certain point reached the
conclusion that there is no other way but to move forward towards peace,
something like this, I hope, will happen at a certain point to President
Assad.
BLITZER: The price that Israel paid for the peace with Egypt is a complete
withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula back to the pre-1967 lines. Are you
prepared to pay the same price on the Golan Heights to make peace with
Syria, to withdraw to the pre-1967 lines from the Golan Heights?
BARAK: Wolf, if you will check very carefully, you will find out that
Sadat did not go back to the fall of June '67 border. It did not go back
to Gaza Strip, but just to the mandatory border between Egypt and
mandatory Palestine.
And even then, there was certain kind of international company that took
five years to establish the ultimate border. But I'm focused on the
security of Israel, I'm not ready to risk it. I fought for it all my life.
I was not afraid to fight, Wolf, I'm not afraid to make peace, but we have
to solve all the problems from the table -- Lebanon, terror, water, open
borders, embassies, security arrangements, early warnings, even certain
kind of economic cooperation.
When all these are clear, we will have to consider the depth of
territorial compromise, and I believe the time is right and this is the
time to make peace.
BLITZER: And you've been quoted as saying you're ready for a painful
compromise over the Golan Heights. What does that mean?
BARAK: I am realistic. I know that you cannot achieve an agreement based
on equilibrium between the needs of demands of both sides without making
compromises and since we love very much our people and the landscapes of
the Golan Heights, and we risked our lives there, I fought there as a
young captain in '67. And for us it is very painful to give any part of
the Golan Heights and any part of Judea-Samaria. But we are living in the
real world, we have to make such decisions, the moment of truth has come.
I'm going to strengthen the security of our country through finding the
way to ultimately put an end to this conflict.
BLITZER: Can Israel live in security along side a Palestinian state?
BARAK: We are not living in western Europe or North America. This is quite
troubled and much tougher neighborhood. The whole question of what kind of
political entity will be created by the permanent status agreements will
be clarified through the permanent status negotiations. We have our, for
instance, we have our demands. If you put them into the problems of
refugees, problems of borders, problem of settlement, we solve the problem
of how to keep Jerusalem united and sovereign under our control. We will
be ready to think about the nature of Palestinian entity.
BLITZER: And so you're not completely ruling out that that entity could
emerge as a state?
BARAK: I'm not in the point right now to deal with it. It's not the
appropriate place to have the negotiations, on CNN on camera. The right
place is in the negotiating room with the Palestinians.
BLITZER: You've said that you want Israeli forces to withdrawal from South
Lebanon within a year. Will you go ahead with that withdrawal even if
there's no movement on the peace process with the Lebanese or with the
Syrians?
BARAK: I'm not dealing with speculation. I would like to accomplish it
through an agreement. So that there would be a direct that will take
responsibility on the other side of the border, to avoid terrorist attacks
against our northern citizen villages. I believe that this is achievable
and I'm determined to put an end to this tragedy that already stretched
over 17 years. It's time to put an end to it through the firm tending of
our civilians in the north and through the devotion of our soldiers along
the border. We will be able to solve it and take care, also, of those
Lebanese civilians and people in uniform who helped us all along these
years.
BLITZER: Tell us about your talks, your meetings, at Camp David with
President Clinton. Mrs. Clinton was there, your wife was there. Take us
behind the scenes and tell us how you were impressed by President
Clinton's commitment to do what he can to help you achieve peace.
BARAK: I found the president highly informed about it in details. He
gathered a lot of experience in regard to Middle East affairs in the seven
years of personal, hands-on involvement in these issues. I felt that he's
highly committed to the common goal for all of us in the Middle East, to
find a way to change the realities of this region that has suffered so
much in the last few generations.
BLITZER: And you know, Mrs. Clinton had caused some controversy, first
last year by her statement supporting a Palestinian state, more recently,
by her statement urging the U.S. to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem. You had a chance to talk to her as well. What were your
impressions about her attitude toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
BARAK: I found her an impressive personality. I believe that she wants, as
all of us, to see the problems being solved in a direct negotiation
between the real parties, Israelis, Palestinians, the Syrians and the
Lebanese. The whole thing is going to happen, not here along the Hudson or
the Potomac. It happens over there, the other side of the globe in the
Middle East. And we bear the responsibility to put an end to it, to
solve it, and we highly appreciate the role and contribution of this
administration and the previous ones to help us push this process
forward.
BLITZER: Mr. Prime Minister, you know there are very high expectations
now. You've raised these expectations. Are you concerned that these
expectations are too high right now that there are going to be some
important breakthroughs in the peace process?
BARAK: When there's a depression, I'm trying to raise the spirits of our
people, when there's an over expectation, I try to reduce it a little bit,
but basically I'm determined to really to do it; to put an end to it. It's
too important to our children, our future generations, and the time has
come to put an end to this conflict and I'm determined to do whatever I
can to do this.
BLITZER: We only have a few seconds left. Your predecessor, when he used
to come here, including during the Wye River agreements, always raised the
question of Jonathan J. Pollard, the convicted American spy who spied for
Israel. Are you taking his approach in dealing with this question?
BARAK: I want to see Jonathan Pollard released and back in Israel, but I
don't think that public dealing with this issue is the appropriate way to
deal with it.
BLITZER: So, You're not going to speak publicly about it?
BARAK: Yes.
BLITZER: One final question. I'm curious, how do you like being prime
minister? You've been prime minister for two weeks. You were a military
officer most of your adult life. How do you like being prime minister of
Israel?
BARAK: I like it. But more than just liking it, I feel the heavy
responsibility that stems out of the expectations and the stoic
responsibility and opportunity that we are facing now in the Middle
East.
BLITZER: Mr. Prime Minister, it was a great honor to be with you and to
interview you. And congratulations on the recent election and welcome to
the United States.
BARAK: Thank you, Wolf, and thank all the viewers at home.
BLITZER: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)