Jerusalem, April 21, 1994
Spokesman: This is the first Israeli official delegation to go to a Gulf country, to Oman, Dr. Beilin will
open with a statement and then will take questions, Dr. Beilin.
Dr Beilin: Thank you very much. We returned some hours ago and I felt that it would be of some importance
to share with you some of our impressions from this first meeting in a Gulf country. First of all, about the
meeting of the working group itself; I presume that it was the best meeting of any working group in the
last two and a half years.
The importance was that there was both a consensus about a list of projects, very tangible ones, which will
take place in the near future and on financing those projects which was much more difficult. Usually, even
if there is a consensus, which is sometimes difficult to achieve, there is not necessarily the money to
finance them and then it becomes just an option and not necessarily a reality. And here I believe that the
most important development was that money was allocated to the some of the projects - mainly by the
United States and Canada - but not only by them.
Another point which was very important for us was that for the first time ever an Israeli proposal was
agreed upon by all parties, by the consensus. The project itself is not a very huge one, it is an experimental
project of saving water in some communities in the Middle East: in Jordan, in the West Bank, in Gaza,
and in Israel. The idea is to prevent the leakage of water from the pipelines. Such leakage loses from
twenty to sometimes sixty percent of the water. In an area where water is so expensive that is something
that we can not comply with.
There was one difficulty only and that was with the Jordanian decision in the last moment to try to prevent
a consensus and since it is all based on consensus, if one of the parties declares that it does not participate
in that consensus, decisions can not be made. Towards the end of the meeting, which was delayed, the
agreement was achieved and Jordan, which had a very important problem which had nothing to do with
the multilateral level and that is the closure on the Aqaba Gulf, withdrew its demand so that all the
decisions were taken unanimously.
We accepted the Palestinian suggestion to have water authority in the territories which was consistent
with the Declaration of Principles and on the basis of the multilateral level. Disagreement was negotiated
at the beginning of the meeting and it was perceived by the Palestinians (and rightly so) as an
achievement for them.
Another achievement was for the Omani government which prepared research on desalination -
desalination in Oman is one of the most important issues on the agenda - and we agreed to establish a
research and technological center in Oman on desalination of water.
Israeli experts will, in a very short while, be invited to Muscat to be involved in the establishment of this
center, which is of course important for the continuation of the relations which were achieved between the
two sides.
Speaking about the bilateral level between Oman and Israel, I had the privilege to meet some of the most
important political figures in Oman. The feeling is that their attitude towards Israel is very different from
the attitude of our neighboring countries. On the one hand, Israel for them has a very negative label. It has
been a taboo for forty six years. Nevertheless, there are no emotions against Israel. The animosity, as such
doesn't exist there. Once there is a change of policy, it will be according to the views of my interlocutors
and it would be very easy to establish relations not only, formal diplomatic relationship, which will be an
immediate result of peace between us and our neighbors, but also friendly relations which will be based on
the economy, on culture and so forth.
There is a kind of feeling of dependency in Oman. There is a dependency on the foreigners. One of the
most important functions or aims of the local administration is the Omanisation of Oman. Both on the
managerial level and the blue collar level. The blue collar workers are from East Asia. On the managerial
level you will find people from India and from the West. What they would like to do, is to educate their
own young generation.
It is until now a success story; the story of Oman is actually the story of the last twenty four years of the
administration of the Sultan Qabous. When he began his term, there were only three grammar schools in
Oman whereas now there many of them. The number illiterate people is a very small one. There is a
University. People are going abroad to study. But the first graduates are very young. We are speaking
about a revolution which took place so few years ago, so the fruits are there, but the strong group in the
society is in its late twenties. It is not very simple for them to change the society and they would like to do
whatever they can in order to educate the young generation and to enable those people to work in all levels
of the Omani economy. Here, such a cooperation with us seems to them very positive. Of course there is a
dependency on desalination because of the scarcity of water and desalination is very expensive. In Oman,
it is almost two dollars for each cubic meter, while in Israel the cost of desalination is one third of that -
and even less than that.
I visited, the day before yesterday, a desalination project which is very impressive, of course. You see there
the efforts which are done, but still the results are not enough for them. If they are able to reduce the price
of desalination, that for them would be a very big revolution and that is why it was so important for them
to host the working group on water, and to establish the desalination center in Oman.
Another point is that of oil and natural resources. Its not only for Oman, but Oman is an example for a
situation where the natural resources will not be able to provide them with their needs in the near future.
Nobody knows exactly how long it will take for them, but the different views move from something like
fifteen to twenty five years, in which the resources of oil will not exist any more. They have to prepare
themselves for the morning after oil which is again something which has to do with educating the young
generation, with finding some new roles and some new fields for their economy. That is, of course, for
them, a very high priority and I believe that with the know-how which exists in Israel, they will be able to
solve this problem. Of course, they do not depend only on Israel, but they do have the feeling that
cooperation with Israel is something which is very tangible for them.
I agree that economically speaking, because of the potential which exists there in the Gulf states, there is a
possibility that the economic ties of Israel will be much more intensive with the Gulf states than with our
neighboring countries - because of the big economic gap between us and our neighboring countries, which
does not exist when we speak about the Gulf states. The potential there is a very big one of exporting our
goods and importing goods from them.
About the near future, the next meeting of the arms control working group will take place in Qatar. Later
on, the working group on environment will meet in Bahrain. Speaking about the next round of the
working group meeting on water, there is a fair chance that it will take place in Kuwait. So that Oman
was the first to break the ice, but the other countries are following it and Oman feels very good about it.
The people who I met were very proud of the fact that they supported the Camp David Accords years ago.
They did not cut relations with Egypt while in the Arab League almost all the other states did, and that
they paved the way for their neighbors in opening the relationships with Israel despite the pressures which
were there.
One last point is about the interest in the Middle East conflict. All the people with whom I spoke, stressed
one very clear point. They were very happy with the developments between us and the Palestinians. But
they say that the solution in their eyes will be only when there is peace between us and the Syrians. Syria
seems to them as the most important key in the Middle East peace process. They believe that peace with
Syria can be achieved only with the help of the Americans. They do not see any kind of an Oslo channel,
or something like that, between Israel and the Syrians because Syrian interest in the United States is
almost as high as interest in Israel. Since it is important for the Syrians to better their relations with the
United States, the Omanis say to us that they cannot foresee any chance for direct talks, or secret talks, or
any kind of shuttle diplomacy which will not involve the United States itself.