Premier Shimon Peres said today that his coalition government had agreed that when and if negotiations begin with Jordan on the status of the occupied areas, Israel will be able to offer self-government to the Arab residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Addressing a graduating class at the National Defense College here, Peres also said that Israel would not allow the territories to become a base for terrorism and that it would act against terrorists and against those who encourage terrorists.
He also said Israel hopes that Jordan will not become a terrorist center where the terrorists can replace the centers they lost in Lebanon, an apparent reference to the destruction of the infrastructure built by the Palestine Liberation Organization in Lebanon before the PLO was driven out of Lebanon by the IDF.
ISRAEL WILL NOT BE MISLED
Peres declared that Israel would not be misled by PLO statements that it had changed its policies, adding, “We know PLO head Yasir Arafat continues to plan attacks” against Israelis.
He said he thought that King Hussein of Jordan genuinely wanted peace with Israel. But, Peres said, Hussein is mistaken if he thinks he will help the peace process by strengthening his relations with Arafat.
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.
