PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL

The Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Barak, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference that time was running out for the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. This pressure of time, he said, should nudge all parties to be more flexible in order to reach an agreement that would help the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, the Middle East and the world as a whole.

Israel, said Prime Minister Barak, had been using the opportunity offered by the Millennium Summit to explain that an opportunity now existed to push forward the Middle East peace process. He said that he also explained the risks of a deadlock and warned that there was a time limit for a breakthrough. For its part, he said, Israel would leave no stone unturned to get to peace. It was ready to take calculated risks for peace, but would not do anything to jeopardize its national interests.

At the Summit, Mr. Barak continued, he sensed that world leaders were becoming more understanding of Israel’s position. Most of them showed a fair attitude towards peace in the Middle East, which, he said, would promote peace the world over, isolate “rogue” States, stabilize moderate regimes in the region and safeguard the flow of oil to America, Europe and Japan.

In a subsequent question and answer session, the Prime Minister was asked what Israel sought from the Palestinians in terms of the negotiations. He said that when United States President William Clinton proposed far-reaching ideas at Camp David to solve core issues, such as Jerusalem, borders and refugees, he had told Mr. Clinton that some of them were beyond what Israel could accept. However, he continued, if Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat did, Israel, too, could accept President Clinton’s ideas as bases for negotiations. The Palestinian leader had so far been inflexible, Mr. Barak said.

Asked to comment on Arab perceptions that President Clinton’s proposals were biased towards Israel, Mr. Barak said that Mr. Clinton enjoyed the unprecedented trust of the Arab world and of Mr. Arafat. While the President was a good friend of Israel, he had not swayed from his role as an honest broker in the talks.

Asked to explain the various concepts of sovereignty being bandied about, Mr. Barak said it was necessary to ensure fairness in all negotiations no matter what happened. It should also be kept in mind that Jerusalem and the Temple Mount were the cornerstones of Jewish identity. As a result, he said, no Israeli Prime Minister could sign a document that gave up sovereignty over those sites.

In response to a question as to what could happen next, Mr. Barak said he would continue the search for a solution and not give up hope. A solution could be found, even though time was running out.

Barak Press Conference - 2 - 7 September 2000

On a reporter’s suggestion that Mr. Arafat’s speech to the Millennium Summit had not insisted on full Palestinian sovereignty over, but only on access to, the Temple Mount, Mr. Barak repeated that the Mount was the cornerstone of Jewish identity and any solution must take that into account. He added in response to further questions that a breakthrough on Jerusalem would accelerate progress over other complicated issues, such as refugees and borders.

The Prime Minister told another questioner that a Palestinian decision to extend the 13 September deadline for declaring statehood would improve conditions for new talks. Pressed on whether he would recognize a state without fixed borders that Mr. Arafat might declare, Mr. Barak said that a unilateral declaration of statehood would violate all agreements between the two sides and would not be acceptable. It would also make Israel contemplate its own unilateral actions. However, he said that he expected the Palestinians not to declare a State on 13 September and that negotiations would continue.

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