PRESS CONFERENCE BY ISRAEL

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY ISRAEL

The Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Avraham Burg, told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon that, because of current efforts in the peace process, the timing of this week’s Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments was crucial for the Israeli delegation.

He said some of the parties involved in the peace process, either directly or indirectly, were at the Conference and, should the Israeli’s and Palestinians sign an agreement, their help would be instrumental. Such assistance included building political, economic and international support for the future of the peace process.

He could not say whether the Israeli public would automatically approve a deal that was brought before it, he added, since it was a very tense issue to the Israeli public. He had no doubt, however, that once there was an agreement and the agreement was approved by the Knesset, Israel would immediately move to implement it. For that reason, the world must be involved, to ensure the future stability of the region.

Consequently, his delegation had invested a lot of effort into meeting with various delegations at the IPU Conference, he continued. That included meeting with delegations from the Middle East, as well as delegations of other parliaments from around the world that were either interested or motivated to be involved in the process. Today, with the press conference, he was trying to promote cooperation and support.

He noted that many speakers, mainly from the Middle East, had today addressed the issues of the peace process in the plenary session of the IPU. The issues raised included the rights of the Palestinians and the demands of the Muslim world, especially vis-à-vis the centrality of Jerusalem. That, in essence, had turned the gathering of heads of parliaments into a public relations effort. For that reason, his delegation was being very cautious about everything that was being said, done and resolved during the Conference.

A correspondent asked for a comment on the speculation that an agreement would not be sent to the Knesset, but instead new elections would be immediately called, which would then serve as a referendum on the agreement. Mr. Burg responded that it was nothing more than a rumour.

Continuing, he said the reason for the rumour was that at the previous session of the Knesset a law had been passed that specified the cases when a referendum was mandatory. One such instance was when Israel gave away territory over which its sovereignty was being exercised. So, it could be that elections would be held first. Then,

Burg Press Conference - 2 - 31 August 2000

a new Knesset would establish the ground rules of the referendum. In any case, there would be a referendum.

Another correspondent asked if Israel, having traditionally been isolated in many international organizations, had felt a similar challenge at the IPU. Also, had Mr. Burg encouraged the United States Congress to play more of an active role in the IPU?

Mr. Burg responded that yes, the IPU was an international forum, but it was not that “bad” for Israel, especially since members of the Knesset had taken an active role in the IPU for many years. The IPU was a very good group and a very balanced one. Unfortunately, there were situations that were not pleasant. One example was the gathering of the IPU in Jordan. Israel had been cornered into an unpleasant resolution that it was not able to correct until later in Alexandria, Egypt.

As for the role of the United States, there were two levels, he said. First, it was not good for the well-being of the world that the United States was isolating itself from the political affairs of the rest of the world. Second, it was difficult for Israel to be alone. Israel needed the powerful, strategic support that the United States provided. Considering the efforts of the peace process and Israel’s economic efforts over the past decade, leaving Israel alone at this time would operate against the best interest of the United States.

He said he had discussed those issues with the Speaker of the United States Congress in the middle of the summer. He hoped that the United States would not withdraw from participating in the IPU.

A correspondent said that next week at the Millennium Summit bilaterals were expected in the margins involving President Clinton, Prime Minister Barak and Yassir Arafat. Did Mr. Burg have an assessment of how vital he thought those meetings would be for the future of the peace process?

Mr. Burg replied that no one knew for sure whether there would be a summit. He believed that the summit was vital, especially taking into consideration the timetables of the three political systems -- the Palestinian, the Israeli and the United States. He was not optimistic about the future of the peace process, if a breakthrough for a comprehensive settlement with the Palestinians was not reached by the end of September.

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