U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman

(Jerusalem)

For immediate release

June 5, 2000

PRIME MINISTER BARAK: Good evening. We are pleased to have here Secretary Albright and her team. We have just ended, in a way, had to cut a very intensive meeting dealing with the details of the Palestinian track and the peace process. We are looking forward to the Secretary's visit to contribute to the moving forward of the peace process on the Palestinian track in order to seize the great opportunity which lies in front of us at this juncture, and I hope that the efforts will be successful. Thank you.

SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: It has been nearly six months since my last visit to Israel and I am very pleased to be back again. Prime Minister Barak and I are kind of in the midst of a good meeting in which we are reviewing a variety of issues, obviously to do with the Arab-Israeli peace, but also we will be talking about Lebanon and the courageous act that Prime Minister Barak took on this. As I return to Israel I am struck by the strong sense of challenge and opportunity that exists here. The landscape of the Arab-Israeli conflict has undergone profound changes in recent years and, I believe, that there truly is a potential now to end the conflict. Barely two weeks ago, Prime Minister Barak fulfilled a bold commitment to withdraw Israeli forces from Lebanon and, in doing so, he began to create a new reality that holds real opportunities for the people of Israel, for Lebanon and for the pursuit of peace.

Our challenge, the challenge of all of us who seek peace, is to ensure that the UN Security Council Resolution 425 is implemented by all sides, and, indeed, there can be no justification for any party to oppose this process or to sit on the sidelines. At the same time, the moment of truth is fast approaching in the pursuit of the Israeli-Palestinian peace. We are concentrating now on trying to realize this historic opportunity to reach an Israeli-Palestinian agreement on permanent status and, in so doing, to address the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict. This can only be achieved through negotiations. There is no other way.

The challenge is equally clear, resolving issues that are extraordinarily complex and confronting tough decisions on both sides and, clearly, that is not going to be easy, but, if Israelis and Palestinians are willing to accept that neither side can get a hundred per cent of what it wants, that each side must address the needs of the other in a spirit of partnership and, the tough decisions that must be made won't become any easier with time, then they can succeed. And, I can just assure you that President Clinton and I are prepared to continue to do everything we can to help them to do so. We are there, ready to roll up our sleeves. Thank you very much.

QUESTION (in Hebrew): Shas behaves in the coalition as though it were theirs. What else should happen that such a party should remain in the government?

PRIME MINISTER BARAK (in Hebrew): I do not think that it is appropriate to solve the problems that require resolution in the coalition in the way you are suggesting. I always recommend dialogue, patience, on adhering to procedures that conform to public norms, on good government, but taking into account that we are ultimately talking about Israeli children, even if they are children who are learning in Shas schools. We have to diligently strive to get to a solution to the problem. Today I stopped the dialogue because there was a sense of an implied threat in the air, and neither I nor this government will operate under a threat of any kind from any source on any subject.

QUESTION (in Hebrew): Has the position that you iterated in Lisbon remained constant which was that the differences which currently exist are too great to convene a Camp David-type summit at end of this month?

PRIME MINISTER BARAK (in Hebrew): I believe that a summit must be appropriately prepared, and principally the Americans, if they initiate a summit, it would be appropriate for them to feel themselves that they have a chance to mediate between the sides. It's not without risk, but if the conditions for a summit ripen, it should be done. I, by the way, did not say - not on the way to Lisbon, and not in any other place -- that the conditions will not ripen. On the contrary, we are within a narrow window of opportunity; there is a strategic need; there is an unusual opportunity; and it will be tested within the next few weeks, whether there is the desire, the determination on the part of the two sides, to try to solve and to put an end to the conflict - from our point of view, while preserving Israel's vital interests.

SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Can I have a translation?

PRIME MINISTER BARAK: I tried to say positive things.

SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: I imagine.

(Translation by interpreter)

SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, I have to say, as I said in my remarks, and the Prime Minister has just said, there really is a historic opportunity here and we all have to work very hard to pursue this opportunity at full speed, but, we have to make sure that there is a basis laid for what we are doing and, as I have said, President Clinton has said, he is prepared to have such a summit, but we have to make sure that the conditions are right and, as the Prime Minister indicated, he feels that way, too. But, we are all prepared to work as hard as we possibly can to have this happen, because this is an historic time and decisions must be made.

QUESTION: There have been reports that you have concluded that Israel no longer needs the Jordan Valley for its security and is considering putting it in the mix. Is that correct, please? Do you have in your own mind, even if you are not making it public, a red line, a line beyond which Israel cannot relinquish land?

PRIME MINISTER BARAK: The more ground we have the better for professional reasons, but here we are dealing with a very complicated situation where all the elements of security should be put together and all the political elements in order to achieve a point of equilibrium that will provide us with a stable peace for generations to come. I'm in no position right now - it's too early - to make any statements about what areas will be included in the agreement on negotiation and what areas will not be agreed. Basically, we need security and settlement presence along the Jordan Valley, but the details could be decided only through negotiations.

QUESTION: Well, it sounds like the report is incorrect.

PRIME MINISTER BARAK: It can happen sometimes for reports….

QUESTION: Are you saying positively that Israel …?

PRIME MINISTER BARAK: I say only what I want to say.

QUESTION (in Hebrew): Regarding the third FRD, in the absence of a framework agreement, would you maintain the American letter which says that the withdrawal will not go beyond one percent? (Inaudible question to the Secretary about Syria.)

PRIME MINISTER BARAK (in Hebrew): The American letter does not state what you described. It says that that subject is Israel's responsibility and is not part of the negotiation, and that the United States does not intend - that it has heard the Israeli position - and does not intend to take a stand on the size of the withdrawal. I am aware of that letter, and of course the United States is aware of it. We are committed to the discussion on the third withdrawal, and we intend to conclude it by the last week of June, but I don't see that as the principal channel by way of which we will achieve a breakthrough but rather a framework agreement, which is much more promising from the point of view of the ability of the two sides to put into it productive and useful content, if in fact there is real desire on both sides.

SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: You asked me about Syria. I think that in order to have a comprehensive peace, we want to see the Israeli-Syrian track also active. The door is open. I am going to be going to Cairo where there happens to be a meeting of Arab Foreign Ministers and so, at that stage, I will have an opportunity to talk to the Foreign Minister of Oman as well as the Foreign Minister of Syria . We are concentrating on the Palestinian track as the Prime Minister and I have said, and as the President has said. But the door is open.

QUESTION: Mr. Prime Minister, would the final status agreement set in motion hundreds of thousands of refugees now living in Lebanon and elsewhere, and, if so, who would host these refugees until a Palestinian state could absorb them, if ever?

PRIME MINISTER BARAK: I think that the refugee issue should be approached and could be solved in a permanent status in a way that will solve, of course, the human suffering aspect of it in regard to all of them who would like to move, including those from Lebanon. But, it is too early, too premature to try to predict what shape the solution will take. We made it clear, many times, that we don't think, bearing in mind the history of this conflict, that Israel can accept either moral or judicial, legal, responsibility for the creation of the problem of the refugees, but, at the same time, as human beings, we are not blind to the human suffering that is there and that, some way to be approached when we come to permanently solve the problem and put an end to the conflict.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, you said that there was no justification for any party to either oppose or stand on the sidelines -- I'm talking about Lebanon - by refusing to or declining to deploy the Lebanese army in the south, or by their position on Sheba Farms. Would you say that either Syria or Lebanon is standing on the sidelines or opposing the process?

SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, I think that we are just in the beginning of this process. The United Nations has been working on certifying the withdrawal and the line and we do believe that it is important for Lebanon to have sovereignty over its territory and that they should, in fact, work towards that end. I think that that is an essential part. We have been, all along, for Lebanon's sovereignty and the ability to withdraw foreign forces and have them take control over their own territory. And, I am not prepared to make a judgement at this stage, because the process has just begun, but I think it is a very important aspect of what has to happen.

PRIME MINISTER BARAK: Thank you all. Think positive.