Summary of a meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and representatives of Arab nations in Israel

As talks on the Hebron redeployment were about to commence, Chairman Arafat flew to Cairo for consultations with President Mubarak. On that day Minister of Foreign Affairs Levy told the Knesset that the Hebron agreement was within reach and could be completed within hours. The Prime Minister briefed representatives of five Arab countries represented in Israel on the regional peace process. He told them the negotiations were at a "sensitive stage" and called for goodwill on behalf of the Palestinians. The following communiqué was issued by the Prime Ministers media advisor.

On Wednesday evening, 16.10.96, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with officials of Arab nations which are represented in Israel Jordanian Ambassador Omar Rifai, Egyptian Ambassador Mohammad Bassiouny, and the representatives of Oman, Mauritania and Tunisia.

The Prime Minister told them that peace is a joint interest of every nation in the region, and that he intends to continue cooperation and to strive for peace with the nations which have relations with Israel, and also with other Arab nations with whom Israel seeks to achieve peace agreements.

He briefed them on the regional peace process, and said that if there is good will on all sides, agreements can be reached quickly.

He said that Israel comes to the negotiations with good intentions, and that he has instructed the negotiating team to try to achieve a solution quickly, in good faith, to the issues over which there were disagreements. He also said that Israel is committed to the agreements which were signed by the previous government, and that respect for the agreements must be mutual, adding that in any case violence must never be an option in negotiations for peace.

Netanyahu added that, in the peace process, there are no winners and losers: "If we achieve peace, both sides win, and if we do not achieve it, all sides will lose."

The Prime Minister said at the start of the meeting, "I will not deal with the negotiations. I said a few days ago that they were at a sensitive stage, and harsh statements will not assist the negotiations, and therefore I will not respond, at present. We must let the teams conduct the negotiations quietly, and with discretion, without a lot of talking at this point. If there is good will on the other side, we can agree and achieve agreements, within a short time. I hope that the desire exists on the other side.

We are ready to make great efforts to advance the peace process. We are acting exactly as we said we would in Washington that we would enter intensive negotiations until results were achieved. I do not wish to engage in the tactics of rhetoric. If the Palestinians have the desire to achieve an agreement, it is possible, and more than possible. If this good will does not exist, and there is the intention to burden the process with statements of one sort or another, then the progress which has been made up to now, will change nothing.

I hope that there is good will, which certainly exists on our part, and so, I remain optimistic. I suggest that everyone involved understand that, in this matter, there will not be winners and losers. Either we achieve a good and stable agreement which will enable us not merely to carry out the redeployment in Hebron, but also to continue the process, or we will become stuck, which will not be good either for Israel or for the Palestinian Authority.

I believe that the Israeli and the Palestinian sides have a common interest, and this interest lies not in tactics, but in achieving an understanding and progress in the peace process, agreed upon with good will and in a positive spirit. This is how we are acting, and I hope and wish to believe that the other side will act this way also."

The ambassadors thanked the Prime Minister for the meeting, and for the update, and expressed the hope that comprehensive peace in the region would be achieved quickly, and that the negotiations with the Palestinians would be concluded rapidly. It was agreed that the Prime Minister would meet on a regular basis with the representatives.

Source: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs