Opening Session
Taba, May 5, 1996
Mr. Abu Mazen, members of the Palestinian Delegation, colleagues,
Benjamin Franklin, one of history's greatest negotiators, said that "there is no good war, and there is no bad peace." We have come here to bury a bad war, and to nurture a good peace.
We meet here today in Taba, in the same place where Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat concluded, less than nine months ago, the Interim Agreement between us. We would like, once again, to thank our Egyptian friends for hosting the marking of another milestone on the ongoing journey to peace.
We have had many encounters and have seen many achievements in our incessant effort to bring about a reconciliation between our peoples. We have resolved some complex challenges and have overcome unprecedented problems -- while continuing our struggle for peace, and against the enemies of peace.
Still, today is different. For the first time, we meet to negotiate permanent status and the state of our relationship, a relationship that affects our respective identities and destinies, as we move, in the language of the Document of Principles, "towards an historic reconciliation".
The Oslo Declaration of Principles was the foundation of our peace process. The Interim Agreement drew the outlines of a new structure for our relations. Agreement on the permanent status will complete the building of peace.
In Oslo, we decided to end the conflict that went on for one hundred years, and made a commitment to each other that all outstanding issues related to permanent status will be resolved through negotiations, and only through negotiations. This last stage should be concluded in three years time.
We are establishing a structure of peace on ground that is still stained with blood. Throughout more than a century of conflict, parents buried their children, and orphans mourned for their parents. We all of us bear the wounds and scars, in body and in soul. My colleagues and I are here not only to represent the Government of Israel and the people of Israel,but all of us -- Shaul, Oren, Yoel, Michael, Ilan, Rafi, Danny and I -- represent those for whom our efforts came too late. To them, we owe our lives and peace itself.
Our peacemaking efforts were marred, time and again, by those who continue to hate, continue to fear, continue to kill, and continuously try to strangle the dream of peace. The terror that only recently cut short the lives of so many in our country has become a common enemy to you and to us.
We shall not submit. Terror and terrorists will come to a dead end. The violence and the violators will be stamped out. Conciliation and accommodation shall prevail as terrorists take their last breath.
We will continue to fully implement our Interim Agreement. Now that the PNC has amended the Palestinian Charter and you are fighting the common source of terror, we shall work together to coordinate rigorous implementation as well as improvement of the economic realities.
Our Agreements, and their implementation so far, are clearly not perfect. Yet they constitute a revolutionary change in the history of our relations. The redeployment, Palestinian elections, the struggle for security, have set an irreversible new direction in our area. Complaints from both sides are not a substitute for policy. We must act vigorously in cooperation to fully convert our agreements and intentions into reality.
In the negotiations that that will begin today, we are compelled to settle the outstanding issues between us, as stipulated by the D.O.P. Each delegation has arrived with different positions. There will be times when our differences may be deep and bitter, yet we have a common tool to help us address all the challenges we will face -- negotiation. We have learned that the art of negotiation is the art of cooperating to create a better future, not just a process of give and take.
We will not conceal that we have come here with basic positions, guidelines, and principles. In line with our basic commitments, we once again emphasize that we do not want, in any way, to interfere in or to control your lives, because doing so would contradict our deepest moral conviction.
At the same time, we shall not compromise our security. In this process, and in the agreements it will generate, we shall retain the capability of defending our people and of fighting terror. To us, a peaceful solution means that not a single Israeli will live under the threat of terror or war. Life and freedom go hand in hand.
As we negotiate our borders, we may realize that in a modern age there can be more than one dividing line. Politically, there is the one that will create the necessary lines of separation between us. Yes, our people must separate. Separation will serve to encourage cooperation in an atmosphere of mutual respect and dignity. For security, there may be various lines to separate our responsibilities, and a border for external defense -- the natural border of the Jordan River. Economically, we may choose to follow successful historical examples of open borders between us, and possibly establish a triangle of trade between the two of us and Jordan.
As we lay the foundation for this essential separation, we will clarify that each of us is responsible for our own respective destiny, our respective people, and for those who seek refuge. We do not have the right of return to the past. We must build a new tomorrow.
For us, there is one issue that is eternal: our united capital, Jerusalem. Jerusalem will proudly realize the definition of its name, City of Peace, offering freedom of prayer and worship to all faiths.
We are guided by our peoples' desire to live in peace. Therefore, the last of our agreements, Oslo III, is not only an agreement for the people; it shall also be ratified by the people, once negotiations between us are concluded.
At the signing of the D.O.P. in Washington, our current Prime Minister, Mr. Shimon Peres, said: "Our land is small, so must our reconciliation be great. As our wars have been long, so must our healing be swift. Deep gaps call for lofty bridges."
In this spirit, our efforts that begin today must achieve more than political and strategic breakthroughs. We must also break through a psychological wall. We must do more than merely recognize each other, we must come to know each other. The historic handshake of September 1993 must be followed by many more, as what we have recognized is no more than reality -- we are neighbors, and we will remain neighbors. People must meet people. As we follow the Norwegian plan, that is the objective -- to encourage meetings between our societies, and, particularly, between our youngsters.
Education for peace is no less important than making peace. Today's schoolbooks will shape tomorrow's history books. The new generation of Israelis and Palestinians will be the generation of peace. They will prove wrong those who offer only hate and obstruction, they will prove wrong the skeptics who are hypnotized by conflict and who prefer to drown in their memories of fear rather than fight for peace. The Oslo process will win the day. Its opponents will be relegated as an irrelevant footnote in this chapter of history.
Our Palestinian partners in peace, we feel that we can work together with you. We have been empowered to continue to change the course of history and to follow in the direction of our two leaders, who make the historical decisions. We hear the call of our peoples and the order of our children: Put an end forever to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and build good relations between neighbors, living apart, differing in character, history and aspirations, yet destined to dwell side by side.
One day, soon, we shall offer our children a future in which peace prevails and in which fear has been banished. We will ignite hope and enable security, education and prosperity. The peace we will achieve will take its place as part of the comprehensive peace that will prevail throughout our region before the end of the century.