Neither minister accepted or rejected the Mubarak Plan. Both felt that the issue was who does Israel negotiate with and what will be the agenda for the talks once, they commence. For Mr. Rabin the key issue was who will be the partner from the territories. Excerpts:
Mr. Rabin: I see no need for Israel to accept or reject Mubarak's 10-point plan. This plan has existed for over a month. It is an Egyptian attitude which I understand, and have also heard from U.S. Administration figures, who see in it an acceptance in principle of elections in the territories, by which the Palestinians will elect from among themselves, and by themselves, an authorized representation with which we will be able to hold negotiations on how to proceed from the present situation to permanent peace, in two stages. Israel has a political plan of its own. This was expressed in the Cabinet decision of May 14, and it is called the Israeli Government's peace initiative. This is the Israeli policy. Everything we want, and in my opinion the entire peace initiative, will fail or succeed on the basis of one issue: Will a partner for dialogue with us be found among the residents of the territories, in order to implement the main part of the Israeli initiative? We held discussions with residents of the territories on this matter. For this purpose we maintained contacts in the world, because this is the essence of the peace initiative.
Mr. Arens: I wish to clarify and explain, that the Israeli government did not come out with a plan; it made an initiative. In our initiative there are no proposals which have to be negotiated. Negotiations will be held regarding the permanent settlement and the interim agreement when it commences. We proposed steps which must be taken so that the political process may be started. I hope that we will receive a positive initiative in response to our own, and then we will indeed set the political process into motion.