Statements to the press following meeting between
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and
Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen
Jerusalem, 2 January 2002
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres: It's a real pleasure to welcome a
new Foreign Minister and an old friend, Jan Petersen, visiting
our country, in his new capacity. Needless to say, Norway is
considered by us as a very profound friend and a great
contributor to the peace in the Middle East. It is not only that
the Oslo agreement was done under Norwegian auspices, but to this
very day, Oslo is paying very close attention to the peace
prospects in the Middle East.
I think the visit of my colleague here is really to see how
things are being conducted and what can be contributed in order
to enhance the process of peace.
It is in that spirit that I welcome you here on behalf of our
government and our people as a good friend, as a man of peace,
and as a good representative of a country that is so dear to our
hearts.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Petersen: Thank you very much. This is
my first visit here in Israel as a Foreign Minister. I have been
here as a member of parliament several times, but this is my
first as a Foreign Minister.
The new Norwegian government was appointed in mid-October this
year. The new Norwegian government will certainly introduce a lot
of reforms in Norwegian domestic politics, but when it comes to
foreign policies we will pursue the same lines as the previous
government. That means that if we can make a clear contribution,
or make a difference, we will certainly be very happy to offer
our good offices.
I had good meetings today with the Prime Minister, with the
Foreign Minister, with Mr. Meridor, and with Mr. Melchior, and I
had the possibility to go through a whole range of issues. I
certainly stressed our position that it is very important that
all acts of terrorism should be stopped. We are encouraged that
there are positive signs these days. I also stressed the need to
base future efforts on the Mitchell Commission and on the Tenet
Plan. I shall continue meetings later today, and I will also meet
with Chairman Arafat tomorrow.
Q: Mr. Peres, there are conflicting messages coming from yourself
and the Prime Minister's office concerning the progress that has
been made. Could you comment.
FM Peres: I think the best way is to be factual. What happened,
on the positive side, is a reduction in the number of the
incidents from 30 per day to 10 per day, which means a reduction
of two-thirds. There was a speech by Arafat, in Arabic, calling
for the end of violence. I think there is also a reduction in the
incitement situation on the part of the Palestinians, and on
several occasions they have prevented acts of terror, and made an
impressive effort to stop the shooting of mortars. This is the
positive side.
The negative side, the missing side, is first of all: the arrests
did not comprise all the people who can repeat terror incidents
in Israel. We gave the Palestinians a list - part of them were
arrested, part of them were not arrested. We feel that the people
who were arrested were neither investigated nor put in jail, in
real terms. We think the Palestinians didn't do enough in the
domain of prevention, and we feel there is a danger of more
attempts to carry out suicide bombings in Israel and to smuggle
arms.
Our hope is that the positive side will outweigh the negative
side. We appreciate what was done, but we expect them to complete
the effort so that we will really arrive at a cease-fire that
will permit us to open up the political horizon and negotiations.
Q: [about the seven days of quiet]
FM Peres: I can't answer your question in absolute terms because
we have warnings all the time. If the tranquility will be
continued without any further incidents it will be one situation.
If there will be more incidents - and I cannot guarantee there
won't be - it is another situation. So we have really to judge
day by day. My own feeling is that maybe it is a proper time to
start the implementation of the Tenet report.
We have many warnings. If the warnings are just theoretic, it is
one situation. If, God forbid, something will happen, it will
change the situation. So I am speaking in very careful language.
I think there is a beginning that should be strengthened and
deepened, and then we can go ahead. Because according to the
Mitchell Report and our agreement, there is a sequence of
development. The first of them is to have a real cease-fire, and
that is my prayer. I hope nothing will happen. I am very
reluctant to say anything, because maybe after this press
conference we may be unpleasantly surprised. I hope we shall be
pleasantly and not unpleasantly surprised.
Q: [about the role of US envoy Zinni]
FM Peres: I think that General Zinni will try to deepen the process of a
cease-fire, together with facilitating conditions in the
territories, to make life easier. So we shall be able to continue
from the point of an achieved cease-fire to the beginning of
political negotiations.