Dear Mr. Prime Minister,
I wanted personally to congratulate you on the successful conclusion
of the "Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron." It
represents an important step forward in the Oslo peace process and
reaffirms my conviction that a just and lasting peace will be
established between Israelis and Palestinians in the very near
future.
In this connection, I can assure you that it remains the policy of
the United States to support and promote full implementation of the
Interim Agreement in all of its parts. We intend to continue our
efforts to help ensure that all outstanding commitments are carried
out by both parties in a cooperative spirit and on the basis of
reciprocity.
As part of this process, I have impressed upon Chairman Arafat the
imperative need for the Palestinian Authority to make every effort to
ensure public order and internal security within the West Bank and
Gaza Strip. I have stressed to him that effectively carrying out this
major responsibility will be a critical foundation for completing
implementation of the Interim Agreement, as well as the peace process
as a whole.
I wanted you to know that, in this context, I have advised Chairman
Arafat of U.S. views on Israel's process of redeploying its forces,
designating specified military locations and transferring additional
powers and responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority. In this
regard, I have conveyed our belief, that the first phase of further
redeployments should take place as soon as possible, and that all
three phases of the further redeployments should be completed within
twelve months from the implementation of the first phase of the
further redeployments but not later than mid-1998.
Mr. Prime Minister, you can be assured that the United States'
commitment to Israel's security is ironclad and constitutes the
fundamental cornerstone of our special relationship. The key element
in our approach to peace, including the negotiation and
implementation of agreements between Israel and its Arab partners,
has always been a recognition of Israel's security requirements.
Moreover, a hallmark of U.S. policy remains our commitment to work
cooperatively to seek to meet the security needs that Israel
identifies. Finally, I would like to reiterate our position that
Israel is entitled to secure and defensible borders, which should be
directly negotiated and agreed with its neighbors.