PRESS CONFERENCE BY FOREIGN MINISTER OF ISRAEL

PRESS CONFERENCE BY FOREIGN MINISTER OF ISRAEL

The dialogue between Israel and Secretary-General Kofi Annan had been both candid and responsible, and would continue, Israel's Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this evening.

Mr. Peres, whose press conference immediately followed a meeting with the Secretary-General, said he had expressed Israel's appreciation to the Secretary-General for the speech he made at the League of Arab States’ meeting in Amman, and for the role the United Nations had played in the attempt to bring tranquillity and integrity to Lebanon.  However, he had also expressed his concern about recent developments in that country.

There were three armed forces in Lebanon, he continued -- the Syrian army, which had about 30,000 troops in the country; the Lebanese army, which was much weaker; and Hezbollah, which was independent of the Lebanese Government and took its orders from Iran.  Israel's main complaint was that Syria had prevented the Lebanese army from redeploying along the border following Israel's withdrawal, and had thus left the border with Israel open to activity by Hezbollah.

He had informed the Secretary-General this evening about the present situation in the talks currently under way with the Palestinians, on security and on ending the violence, and also about his visit to Egypt and Jordan, he said.  In both Egypt and Jordan, he noted a serious mood in support of finding an end to the violence.

Security talks with the Palestinians were ongoing, he said, but the situation on the ground was extremely alarming.  Just one hour ago, he had been informed of the discovery of a bomb in Jerusalem -- found, thankfully, before it exploded, thereby averting a potential tragedy.  Shelling of civilians in Israel continued.  The situation was very tense.  He was working to try to bring an end to the funerals and the suffering.

The Government of Israel had decided -- unilaterally and unconditionally -- to change the situation in the territories, Mr. Peres continued.  Israel did not want Palestinian civilians to suffer, and was against collective punishment.  Thus, the Israeli government had increased the number of permits allowing Palestinians to work in Israel -- the main source of income for many Palestinians -- from 4,000 to 15,000 yesterday, and had further increased the number again today to 20,000.  A total of 40,000 Palestinians were now working in Israel. The increases had been made despite the danger.  Israel had also increased the number of permits allowing Palestinians to stay in Israel from 1,000 to 5,000.

Israel had also decided to raise many of the restrictions on exports and imports to the territories, thus, enabling the flow of goods to resume there without any interference from Israel, he added.

Israel's Government had suggested to the Palestinians that it would bring water to Hebron, which was suffering from a very serious shortage, and that it would build a pipeline to ensure water for the area in the future, he continued. Such a pipeline would also help avoid the problems caused by contamination of

fresh water supplies by waste water, particularly in the hills of Nablus.  Israel had also suggested a power station be built in the territories, which would be under Palestinian control and jurisdiction, from which Israel would purchase power.  A desalination plant could also be built, from which Israel would purchase water, he added.

His Government would try to facilitate improvements in the conditions of life in the Palestinian territories, he said. It recognized that the situation in the territories was very tense and demanding, and did not believe it served Israel's interests.  Nothing would be asked in return for these attempts to improve the situation, and no conditions would be placed on their implementation.

He had called the Secretary-General's attention to events at the recent meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in South Africa.  Specifically, he had pointed out that the Non-Aligned Movement risked turning into an alliance against Israel.  If the members of the Movement wanted to be non-aligned, they should not be aligned against Israel, and they should not try to prevent Israel from receiving a fair hearing.  He had also made similar comments about attempts to malign Israel in the name of human rights.  The right to remain alive was a basic human right. Terrorism was a violation of human rights.

A correspondent asked if Israel had plans to change its settlement policies.  Mr. Peres replied that his coalition Government had binding guidelines, one of which was that the Government would not establish new settlements, but that it would provide for the needs of existing ones. 

Did the Secretary-General, the same correspondent asked, agree with the notion of the "natural growth" of the settlements and the open timetable for final negotiations?  What was his own opinion as a “man of peace”, since those positions would make peace very difficult?  Mr. Peres responded that he would not speak for the Secretary-General, but a ban on building new settlements fit in with his own position, while the issue of natural growth would be on the agenda for negotiations.  There was a fine line between natural growth and expansion.  The intention was natural growth, without expansion.

Another correspondent asked Mr. Peres to comment on a statement by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak today.  Mr. Mubarak had said that an Israel delegation, led by Mr. Peres, had begged him to announce that Israel and the Palestinians had reached a breakthrough agreement in stopping the violence, so he was surprised when that breakthrough was later denied by Mr. Peres. 

Mr. Peres said the Egyptian President was correct.  His own remarks were not that the President was mistaken in announcing the breakthrough, but that the translation from Arabic, as broadcast by the press was mistaken.  The breakthrough ceasefire, however, did not take place because of the ongoing violence, including the firing of mortar shells, a bomb in Jerusalem and explosions in Gaza.  But a verbal understanding, on a framework for handling a ceasefire, had, indeed, been reached.

Asked what kind of involvement he would seek from the President of the United States, George Bush, at their upcoming meeting, Mr. Peres replied that it was in the interest of the United States to take a leading role in the fight against terrorism, but, for peace, he would prefer face-to-face negotiations, which had succeeded in the past. 

He appreciated American support for the peace process, but not as its chief negotiator.  He wouldn't compare Mr. Bush to Mr. Clinton; each American President had his own style.  "The best division of labour would be for the United States to help produce tranquillity and security and the cessation of fire, and we shall start to negotiate, in the wake of a ceasefire, directly with the Palestinians", he said.  He welcomed any Egyptian and Jordanian support for such a process.

Given the current level of distrust, how could there be any negotiations without mediators? A correspondent asked.  He replied that the Oslo agreement occurred without intermediaries, as did negotiations with Jordan.  The support of the United States was there, but the talks were face to face.

He had no regrets, he said in response to a final question in English, about being part of Israel's unity government.  "I have to serve my country, I have to serve peace, and I cannot be limited to party politics", he said

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