Premier Shimon Peres of Israel proposed an “international alliance” against international terrorism at a meeting in Ottawa Wednesday with Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. The Canadian leader said his country would be strongly disposed to join such an alliance.
“An international alliance is needed to fight terrorism,” Peres said at the start of a two-day visit to Canada. “Such an organization would allow any interested nation to share intelligence and train units to confront terrorists.” Peres added, however, that “the organization would focus on international terrorism and would not be designed to help governments fight local skirmishes.”
Peres drew a standing ovation from 2,500 members of Montreal’s Jewish community who packed the Shaare Hashomayim Synagogue Wednesday night to hear him describe the upturn in Israel’s political and economic situation and express confidence in his country’s future.
UNCEASING EFFORTS TO AID SOVIET JEWS
The most thunderous applause greeted his declaration that “We shall never give up our efforts for the ingathering of our brothers from the Soviet Union. I have no doubt the day will come. Soviet Jews belong to us.”
Peres stressed that “The Russians are not our enemies but until they restore diplomatic relations, let Soviet Jews teach their children Hebrew, our history and our historic links with the land of Israel and let those who wish to emigrate do so, there will be no peace between Israel and the USSR.”
PRAISES ROLE OF THE IDF
He spoke highly of the role of the Israel Defense Force, observing that the improvement of relations between Israel and various countries of Europe and Africa “is mainly due to our strength.”
“Without our military strength, not only Israel is in danger but Jewish life everywhere is in danger,” Peres said. He spoke also of Israel’s war on inflation which he said had eroded 25 percent of every worker’s salary. He expressed hope that the present inflation rate of 16 percent will fall to zero by the end of the year. Noting the improvement to date, he said that “people who ran after the Dollar before, run today after the Shekel.”
He remarked jocularly that the difference between “the Holy Land and the oily lands is that when oil prices plunge, the Holy Land becomes stable.” Peres said that the incidence of terrorism in the West Bank has been halved and maintained that this was proof that the Palestinians in the territory are not supporting terrorism which, he said, “will be fought, as before, with the utmost resolution.”
With respect to peace prospects in the Middle East, Peres told his audience: “We shall negotiate out of strength. We don’t want to dominate the Arab people. For us a moral judgement is an historic judgement.”
Before leaving Canada Thursday, Peres is scheduled to meet with Premier Robert Bourassa of Quebec, former Canadian Premier Pierre Elliot Trudeau, former Quebec Premier Rene Levesque and Quebecois Party leader Pierre Mark Johnson.
Peres is scheduled to return to New York Thursday evening and begin a hectic round of meetings through Sunday with Jewish leaders and city and state officials. He is due to leave New York for Israel Sunday evening.
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.
