BEGIN PRAISES CARTER ADMINISTRATION
Begin in turn lavished praise on the Carter Administration for its efforts in Mideast peacemaking. He recalled his own message to President Carter on the eve of Sadat’s arrival in Jerusalem thanking the U.S. President for “creating this historic moment.” Begin declared that “we are now in the midst of the peace process,” and spoke of “very delicate negotiations” which precluded his divulging substantive details to the press. “Give (the negotiations) a chance,” Begin pleaded with the reporters.
He reiterated his assertion that “everything is negotiable–and will be negotiated,” adding, however, “except the destruction of Israel.” Begin said he was basically “optimistic.” Asked on what his optimism was based, he replied: “On my knowledge of the facts.” He declined to share that knowledge.
Vance said that while “we would all like to see unanimity’ in the Arab world, the absence of unanimity was not a bar to progress. He added: “We all hope the split (among the Arab states) can disappear as time moves forward.” Begin for his part assured the reporters that Israel did not want to “drive a wedge” between Arab nations, but wanted to conclude contractual peace with all its neighbors.
On the upcoming conference, Vance said he expected it to deal with “substance as well as procedure” and that he expected the Palestinian issue to be discussed there. Begin accepted a questioner’s assessment that the main purpose of the conference was to evolve “a set of principles” on which peace was to be based. He asserted that Israel recognized “the problem of the Palestinian Arabs” and was sure it could produce a fair and workable solution.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
