Israel, 1997

I would like to begin by

congratulating the President on his unanimous election to

preside over the fifty-second session of the General

Assembly of the United Nations. It is my hope that at this

session the Assembly will be successful in bringing nations

closer to each other and in finding ways to address the

challenges that face all countries and nations, north and

south, east and west.

I also wish to congratulate his predecessor,

Ambassador Razali Ismail of Malaysia, for the manner in

which he carried out his duties.

We mark this year the twentieth anniversary of the

peace initiative of the late Prime Minister of Israel,

Menachem Begin, and the late President of Egypt, Anwar

Sadat. Those leaders, with their historic decision and their

courageous leadership, pioneered the way towards the first

peace treaty between Israel and an Arab neighbour, Egypt.

Throughout their entire history, the people of Israel

have aspired to live in peace. Together with our constant

call for peace with our neighbours, we have not spared any

effort to seek, whether through direct or indirect contacts,

a partner in this effort. Today, too, we continue to seek

channels for dialogue and to build bridges to peace.

In recent years, since 1991, after the principles for

negotiating peace in the Middle East were laid down at

Madrid, we have achieved a number of important

advances with the establishment of full peace between

Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the

signing of interim accords with the Palestinians.

Nevertheless, the road to full peace is still long, and

negotiations with the Palestinians and with Syria and

Lebanon still lie ahead of us.

Immediately after the last elections, the Government

of Israel accepted the need to continue to advance the

Oslo accords and has acted to implement them. In the

past year we have spared no effort to implement those

accords, but, unfortunately, the trust that is the lifeblood

of the entire process has been undermined as a result of

the failure of the Palestinians to carry out their

commitments according to the agreements they have

signed.

In the past year, while pursuing these efforts, we

have endured many tests and have suffered ongoing

terrorist attacks and bloodshed. Our deep-rooted aspiration

for peace, security and tranquillity has been stained by the

shedding of innocent blood, by the murder of men,

women and children cut down by barbaric terrorist

attacks. Yet despite our deep sorrow and mourning over

the loss of those innocent lives, the hope for peace has

not been extinguished in the hearts of the citizens of

Israel.

The citizens of Israel have taken upon themselves

great risks for peace, but there is none among them who

is willing to continue to pay the bloody price that is being

demanded in the name of peace. We must break this

tragic and violent cycle. It is only through joint action in

confronting the terror that trust will be re-established and

the doubts regarding intentions be removed.

As I stated in my remarks at the fifty-first session of

this Assembly, all Israel is united in its deep desire for

peace and for a life of calm and security. In Israel, both

right and left are united in this quest.

If trust can be restored, if the principle of reciprocity

is honoured, it will be possible for us to proceed. We

have already proved our willingness to do so, through our

decisions and actions since taking office and in the

signing and implementation of the Hebron agreement in

all its aspects.

Peace cannot live side by side with continued

incitement, hostility, violence and terror. Peace means, in

essence, the unequivocal and irreversible abandonment of

25

violence. Dialogue, negotiation, compromise and the

honouring of agreements — those are the path to peace.

These principles apply throughout the world and must

apply also in the Middle East. The existence of two parallel

tracks, one on which negotiations are pursued while a

second track of violence, terror and bloodshed continues

unimpeded, is totally unacceptable. This is a direct

challenge and affront to the very concept of peace.

Terror does not suddenly erupt from nowhere. It is not

a spontaneous phenomenon. Too often we have seen

terrorist leaders and their organizations adopt the facade of

innocent and peaceful organizations, charitable and welfare

organizations, while under this cover they contribute to the

preparation and perpetration of vicious terrorist attacks.

Terror can be likened to a volcano ready to erupt at any

moment, whose boiling lava threatens to destroy all who lie

in its path.

Those who resort to terror are seeking not only to kill

Israelis but also to hurt their own brethren. Terror cannot be

accepted as a legitimate tool for resolving differences. It

must be rejected, absolutely and unequivocally, and it must

be fought unrelentingly. We will not agree to live under its

constant threat.

The words of the President of the United States and of

the Foreign Minister of Russia at this Assembly just a few

days ago are important and should guide us all in this

matter. I quote President Clinton when he spoke from this

very rostrum:

“terrorism is always a crime and never a justifiable

political act.” [See Official Records of the General

Assembly, Fifty-second Session, Plenary Meetings, 5th

meeting]

Thus, the international community bears the responsibility

for ensuring that terrorism enjoys no political support,

recognition or legitimacy, not even implicitly.

In the 1993 Oslo accords, the Palestinian Authority

and Arafat, its leader, undertook in the name of the

Palestinian people to fight terrorism. They reaffirmed this

commitment again in the 1995 Interim Agreement, again

one year ago at the Washington summit and again in the

Hebron agreement. Much to our consternation, it has been

proved that this commitment has not been upheld as

required, thus causing the present crisis of confidence.

Israel stands firmly upon its call to the Palestinian

Authority to fulfil its promise to fight relentlessly against

terror. The Authority must act jointly and in full

cooperation with us against terrorism and violence. We

seek neither to dictate nor to coerce. We seek merely the

implementation of signed agreements. The fight against

terror, in our humble opinion, is also in the Palestinian

interest.

In response to the repeated crises in the process

caused by the failure of the Palestinian Authority to live

up to its commitments, Israel proposes a binding code of

conduct for relations between us. This code should

include, first, the rejection of violence as a means for

achieving political goals; secondly, preservation of the

framework of direct negotiations and agreement to refrain

from attempts to transfer disputes and negotiations onto

the international stage; thirdly, the institutionalization of

permanent channels of communication, including in times

of crisis; fourthly, a cessation of incitement and the call

to violence and jihad, and their replacement with the

language of reconciliation and mutual respect; and, fifthly,

the advancement and encouragement of normalization and

support for regional activities.

The purpose of this code of conduct is to facilitate

uninterrupted negotiations and crisis management, and to

create an atmosphere of dialogue. This code must respond

to the sensitivities and needs of both sides. We believe

that the adoption of the above principles will allow us to

overcome the present crisis and help in preventing future

ones as the negotiations proceed. These rules of the game

will also contribute to renewed trust between the leaders

and greater confidence between the peoples.

In the wake of the visit to the Middle East of the

United States Secretary of State, renewed agreement has

been reached to continue the efforts at restoring the peace

process to its proper track. We have been conducting

intensive talks in recent days, with the assistance of the

United States, both in Washington and here, with a view

to resuming the negotiations and advancing our efforts to

reach a permanent settlement with the Palestinians.

Israel values and appreciates the action of the United

States Secretary of State and her commitment and efforts

to extricate the peace process from its current impasse, to

bring the parties closer together and to ensure the success

of the negotiations. We are fully committed to these

efforts.

26

Israel reaffirms its proposal to conduct accelerated

negotiations, according to an agreed timetable, on

permanent status. We propose conducting negotiations in

which the sides will agree upon the desired outcomes and

the way towards achieving them. This proposal is intended

to hasten the attainment of a peaceful settlement, not to

delay it. This is also our call and our proposal to the

Palestinian Authority.

The international community can play an important

role in facilitating the dialogue between the sides, which

will make it possible for us to resolve our differences

through direct negotiations. It is only through direct

negotiations that we can bring this process to a successful

conclusion. One-sided international declarations, dictates or

pressures will not help. Attempts to internationalize the

dispute and to transfer the arena of negotiations to the

United Nations and other international forums only serve to

create unnecessary obstacles and to make already

entrenched positions more rigid.

The comprehensive peace we yearn for will not be

achieved until we reach peace agreements with Syria and

Lebanon. It is imperative to reach understandings and

agreement that will enable us to renew negotiations and to

resolve all the matters at issue between us. We expect to

find in Syria and its leadership a partner in the search for

a just peace. If Syria has indeed made a strategic choice in

favour of peace — the “peace of the brave”, as claimed by

its leadership — then we must explore together every

possible avenue, at any place and at any time, for renewing

the talks between us.

Israel cannot accept the continued violence and terror

on its northern border. The terrorist activities of

organizations such as Hezbollah and the fear of Katyusha

rockets and attacks upon our cities and towns bear the

threat of ongoing regional tension and continued bloodshed.

There is no territorial dispute between Israel and Lebanon.

We wish to see a sovereign, free and independent Lebanon

acting determinedly against the terrorist organizations that

operate from its territory.

If we are to reach peace, we cannot make do only

with agreements and contracts. The reality of peace means

normalization, open borders, freedom of movement,

commerce and cooperation for the benefit of the entire

region. These are the soul and essence of peace.

Normalization is not a prize or a gift for Israel alone.

The decisions of the Foreign Ministers of the Arab

League at their recent meeting in Cairo, just over one week

ago, stand in direct contradiction to the aspirations for

peace and undermine its foundations. The attempts to

prevent normalization with Israel, to freeze the level of

existing relations with it, to close liaison and interests

offices between Israel and Arab neighbours and to

reactivate the Arab boycott add up, in practice, to a

boycott of peace itself. This is a destructive policy which

is reversing the process.

The ongoing and intentional freeze of the

multilateral talks also has a deleterious effect on the

entrenchment of peace. The multilateral talks were meant

and should serve as a platform and incentive for building

peace. We must promote the bilateral and multilateral

channels alike and not make one conditional upon the

other, nor create further obstacles and barriers on the road

to peace. The question mark hanging over the regional

economic conference scheduled to take place later this

year in Doha, Qatar, is further evidence of this negative

drive.

The countries of the Middle East that are party to

the peace effort have a common interest in regional

stability and the advancement of prosperity and well-

being for all the nations of the region. We face together

the growing shortage of water and the ever-expanding

desert. We are also facing dangers from within our region

that threaten to undermine the stability of the regimes of

various nations and to plunge the entire region into

violence, war and bloodshed.

It was only a few years ago that the entire world

was forced into forming a coalition to combat an

aggressive dictator who sought to conquer a neighbouring

country and to terrorize our entire region. Today, we face

new and even more extreme dangers, but the lessons of

recent experience have not been learned and many

countries turn a blind eye to the threat.

The leadership of Iran continues to speak in terms

that threaten the State of Israel and call for its destruction.

Yet the international community continues to remain deaf

and refuses to speak out against Iran's policies,

declarations and actions.

Iran's efforts, like those of Iraq, to acquire

operational weapons of mass destruction of all kinds

represent the greatest threat to security and stability in the

Middle East and beyond. The ramifications of Iran's

weapons programme extend far beyond the geographical

confines of our region. They threaten the security of other

27

members of the international community and their interests.

Israel reiterates its call to the members of the

international family of nations — and at their head the

United States, Russia and the members of the European

Union and of the Commonwealth of Independent States —

to exercise the full weight of their influence and to take

concrete steps to prevent this development, which

represents a threat to the existence of the State of Israel.

After the establishment, as we hope, of peace treaties

between Israel and every country of the region, it will be

possible to create a regional security system that would

provide multilateral and shared solutions to the range of

security problems in the Middle East, including a mutually

and effectively verifiable Middle East free of chemical,

biological and nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. These

are our goals and we must act to achieve them.

Israel is an active and responsible member of the

family of nations represented in this body. However, 50

years after the United Nations adopted, on 29 November

1947, the resolution calling for the establishment of the

State of Israel, we are still denied our equal rights in this

Organization.

We attach great importance to the fundamental reform

of the United Nations work. We also share the opinion of

other United Nations Member countries that believe that the

Organization urgently requires greater efficiency and a

redirecting of its valuable but limited resources towards its

truly important tasks. At the same time, we are convinced

that no reform can be completed so long as the question of

Israel's membership of a regional group remains unresolved.

We call upon this Organization to correct this anomaly.

Much to our chagrin, in the last year we have seen an

intensification of the political campaign waged against

Israel at the United Nations. This campaign only impedes

the peace process and further undermines confidence

between the parties. We call upon the Member States to

refrain from lending their support to such resolutions. The

time has come for this Assembly to reduce the number of

resolutions on the Middle East that it adopts each year and

to contribute positively to creating an atmosphere conducive

to direct negotiations between the parties.

As part of Israel's international and regional

commitment and of its credo as a State, we are engaged in

cooperative programmes with many countries, with which

we share the experience and knowledge we have acquired

in various fields. Israel attaches great importance to its

international cooperation programme and to assisting

various peoples to address the challenges of development

and the hazards of nature, hunger and disease.

Over more than three decades, tens of thousands of

trainees have participated in courses in Israel and in their

own countries within the framework of Israel's

cooperation and assistance programme in the fields of

education, health, agriculture, industry, social affairs and

leadership. We are especially proud of the participation in

recent years of trainees from Arab countries, amongst

them Palestinians. These trainees are emissaries of

goodwill, ambassadors of peace, who bear with them the

message and the great hope of human well-being. As in

the words of the prophet:

“Each shall help his neighbour and make him

strong”.

This year, the Jewish people in Israel and around the

world marks the jubilee of its national revival. Fifty years

ago, the Jewish people restored its national sovereignty in

its ancient homeland. Throughout the dark days of our

2,000-year dispersion, we dreamt of the day that we

would renew our national life in the land of our

forefathers, the land of Israel.

It is the privilege of our generation to fulfil this

aspiration. The Jewish people has returned and built up its

land. The Jewish people is once again gathering in its

ancient home and has succeeded in building a vibrant

and democratic society, a flourishing economy, science,

research and industry.

For the past 50 years, we have laboured to ensure

Israel's security and independence, while always seeking

peace and good-neighbourly relations in our region. Fifty

years on, the State of Israel is an irremovable reality.

This week, we mark the beginning of the Jewish

new year. At this holy time, every Jew turns his eye

towards the heavens with a prayer in his heart for the

peace of the world, the end of misery and a new dawn of

hope for all. On this day of remembrance, the blow of the

shofar is accompanied by the prayer:

“may the year and its troubles pass and a new year

and its blessings begin”.