Speech at Conclusion of the Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit
(February 8, 2005)
Good afternoon.
I would like to thank you, the President of Egypt,
Mr. Hosni Mubarak, on
your welcome initiative and the kind hospitality for this important
summit. We all hope and pray that this day will be remembered as the
day on which the process began to move forward towards completion, towards
the goal of a tranquil, dignified and peaceful life for all the peoples
of the Middle East.
I also wish to convey special congratulations to Your
Majesty, King Abdullah,
on the birth of your son Hashem and on the occasion of your birthday.
May you live a long life filled with joy, and be able to lead your people
to tranquility and prosperity, and hopefully we can, together, strengthen
the relations between us.
Congratulations are also due to you, the Chairman of
the Palestinian Authority, Mr.
Mahmoud Abbas, on your impressive victory in the Palestinian
Authority elections.
Your victory and the path on which you wish to lead your people can
mark a direction of real change to your people, which will affect the
entire region. I hope that you will be able to lead your people on the
path of democracy and maintenance of law and order, until the establishment
of an independent and democratic Palestinian state.
2005 began as a year of great opportunity for all the
peoples of the region, first and foremost for Israelis and Palestinians.
We must all ensure that this opportunity is not missed.
We have an opportunity to break off from the path
of blood which has been forced on us over the past four years. We have
an opportunity to start on a new path. For the first time in a long
time, there exists in our region hope for a better future for our children
and grandchildren.
We must move forward cautiously. This is a very fragile
opportunity, that the extremists will want to exploit. They want to
close the window of opportunity for us and allow our two peoples to
drown in their blood.
If we do not act now - they may be successful in their
scheme.
There is only one answer to them: we must all announce
here today that violence will not win, that violence will not be allowed
to murder hope. We must all make a commitment not to agree for a temporary
solution, not to allow violence to raise its head, but to act together,
determinedly, to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, to disarm and
subdue it once and for all. Only by crushing terror and violence will
we build peace.
I have no intention of missing this opportunity - because
we must not let the new spirit, which grants our peoples hope, pass
us by and leave us empty-handed.
That is why we have acted quickly and with determination,
with an understanding of the needs of the Palestinian side. Over the
past few days, we reached a number of understandings with our Palestinian
colleagues, which will enable us to grant both peoples tranquility and
security for the near future. Today, in my meeting with Chairman Abbas,
we agreed that all Palestinians will stop all acts of violence against
all Israelis everywhere and parallelly, Israel will cease all its military
activity against all Palestinians anywhere. We hope that today we are
starting a new period of tranquility and hope. Furthermore, we agreed
on a process of transferring security responsibility for Palestinian
areas. I informed Chairman Abbas of our intention to take a series of
confidence-building measures: soon we will release hundreds of Palestinian
prisoners, and also establish a joint committee to explore future release
of prisoners.
We wish to conduct genuine and honest dialogue in order
to transform these first steps into a sound basis for the foundation
of our relations.
I am determined to carry out the Disengagement Plan
which I initiated. The Disengagement
Plan was initiated by a unilateral decision. Now, if new change
does emerge on the Palestinian side, the disengagement can bring hope
and become the new starting point for a coordinated, successful process.
The Disengagement Plan can pave the way to implementation
of the Roadmap, to which we are committed and which we want to implement.
We are prepared to actively fulfill all our obligations, and expect
the other side to carry out all its obligations.
Only actions and not words - this is the only way to
attain the vision of two states living side-by-side in peace and tranquility.
With your permission, I wish to address the citizens
of both peoples:
To our Palestinian neighbors, I assure you that we
have a genuine intention to respect your right to live independently
and in dignity. I have already said that Israel has no desire to continue
to govern over you and control your fate. We in Israel have had to painfully
wake up from our dreams, and we are determined to overcome all the obstacles
which might stand in our path in order to realize the new chance which
has been created.
You too must prove that you have the strength and the
courage to compromise, abandon unrealistic dreams, subdue the forces
which oppose peace and live in peace and mutual respect side-by-side
with us.
To the citizens of Israel, I say: we have passed difficult
years, faced the most painful experiences and overcame them. The future
lies before us. We are required to take difficult and controversial
steps, but we must not miss the opportunity to try to achieve what we
have wished for, for so many years: security, tranquility and peace.
And one final call to our hosts and to the Arab leaders
of the region: come let us join hands and create a new atmosphere of
openness and tolerance in our region. Together we can build a dam against
the radical forces of yesterday which threaten to carry us all into
a whirlpool of blood and hatred. Together, we can promote relations
between us and ignite a first ray of hope for all the people of the
Middle East. Together, we can ensure our peoples lives of freedom and
stability, prosperity and peace.
May we all be found deserving of this great opportunity
which we have been granted
Sources: Prime Minister's Office |