Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir believes Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will eventually accept Israel’s proposal for elections in the territories.
Israel knows, from quiet contacts, that some in the territories want to reach an accord, Shamir told The Jerusalem Post in a pre-Independence Day interview published Tuesday.
“So I hope the forces will be found, perhaps with the help of neighboring Arab states, which will enter the process with us,” the prime minister said.
He said the Palestinians must be made to realize, through military and diplomatic firmness, that they have “only one alternative — and it is a fair and reasonable one,” said Shamir.
He said the Palestine Liberation Organization was exhorting the populace of the territories to spurn the Israeli election plan, telling them independence is just around the corner.
But “you can’t lie to everybody all the time. The people in the territories will eventually realize that these tales are groundless — lies and illusions,” he said.
The prime minister expressed anger at the news media Tuesday for alleged “misrepresentation of events in our country.”
Greeting a visiting Keren Hayesod mission, Shamir said Israel would not sacrifice its vital interests “in order to get a good press.”
“We should do whatever possible to improve it,” he told the overseas fund-raisers. “But let us not fall into the trap of sacrificing substance for the sake of public relations.
“Above all, we must remember that we cannot, we will not, risk our survival in order to get a good press,” Shamir said.
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