Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin said here that if Jordan ends its demands that “declared members” of the Palestine Liberation Organization be included in peace negotiations, Israel would not object to an “international umbrella” for direct negotiations with Jordan.
Israel wants “direct and bilateral” negotiations with Jordan and “Palestinians that are not declared PLO members,” Rabin told the 3,200 delegates to the 54th General Assembly of the Council of Jewish Federations at the Washington Hilton Hotel. “With the PLO we’ll not negotiate.”
Rabin said that while “some international support” cannot be a substitute for direct negotiations, if it is needed to bring Jordan “or any other Arab country to decide to negotiate for peace, (it) should be more than welcome by us.”
Rabin made the same point earlier in the day to reporters at the State Department after a meeting with Secretary of State George Shultz. He said Premier Shimon Peres had offered to enter into direct negotiations with Jordan, but there were two “obstacles” — Jordan’s insistence on the participation of PLO members and an international conference.
Rabin said if the “major obstacle” of demanding “declared PLO members” is removed, then the obstacle of the “international umbrella” is “removable.” But he stressed that Israel prefers the pattern used in the Egyptian-Israeli talks: the two sides with the participation of the United States. Rabin said it was up to Jordan now. “The ball is in the Jordanian court,” he said.
ISRAEL MUST TAKE RISKS FOR PEACE
In his address to the CJF, Rabin said he believes Israel must “take risks for peace. We have taken too many risks at war.”
He stressed that, “for peace you have to compromise.” He said in negotiations some of the demands of the other side must be met as long as they “don’t undermine the purpose of Israel, the security of Israel.”
However, he said that in negotiations with Jordan, the pattern with Egypt will not be followed where every inch of territory acquired in the 1967 Six-Day War was returned. But to get peace “without giving anything is an illusion.”
On Israel’s northern border, Rabin said Israel has withdrawn from Lebanon and is now concerned with safeguarding the borders and protecting the towns and people in the north.
SAYS ISRAEL CAN DEAL WITH TERRORISM
He said Israel is able to deal with terrorism but there is no way to completely ensure against acts of terrorism. “It is an illusion to assume that by one good war you can finish all wars, all terrorism,” he said. “We have paid too heavily for the belief in such an illusion.”
At the start of his talk, he noted that the “minicrisis” over Ariel Sharon has captured the headlines. But he said this had nothing to do with Israel’s real problems.
At the State Department, when he was asked if he had discussed the Cabinet crisis with Shultz, Rabin replied, “What do we have to discuss in Washington problems that have to be solved in Jerusalem.”
NOTES ECONOMIC SUCCESS OF UNITY GOVERNMENT
The Labor Party leader said that the national unity government of Labor and Likud has worked to help solve Israel’s economic problems. He said success has been achieved by large cuts in the Israeli standard of living and for the first time in the military budget.
“Israel has never taken such a security risk,” he said, adding it has cut its military budget while the Arab countries continue to build up their arms.
During the program, there was a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the liberation of the death camps, with Washington area day school children lighting six large memorial candles.
A MOVING MOMENT
The most moving moment was an appearance by Avital Shcharansky, wife of Anatoly Shcharansky, who had been conducting a vigil outside the Soviet Embassy here before leaving for the Geneva summit. She urged all the General Assembly delegates to participate in the various demonstrations going on to show the Soviet Union the massive support in this country for Soviet Jews. On Friday morning, following her short address to the Assembly, more than 600 delegates joined her in a two-hour vigil opposite the Soviet Embassy.
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