Departing Defense Minister Ezer Weizman, in his official letter of resignation today, accused Premier Menachem Begin of throwing away chances for peace. Begin, after receiving the letter tonight, telephoned reporters to fell them, “there is not a scrap of truth in this statement.”
In his letter of resignation, Weizman said you (Begin) were given a rare chance to bring about a new hope amongst our people but you threw it away.” Weizman said that “The people believed in peace and in the government. It is not the people that ceased to believe in peace …. Instead of taking steps to encourage and strengthen peace, we are merely marking time.”
Begin, who took the unusual step of telephoning Israeli reporters, said that “our negotiating team has carried out the talks in accordance with the Camp David agreement with good will and has made unceasing efforts to reach agreement. “He said the Egyptian proposals on Jerusalem, security and the nature of autonomy “are a threat to the existence, future and security of Israel” and are to blame in the failure to complete the autonomy talks.
“Mr. Weizman’s accusation that Israel is marking time, as he puts it, after he himself turned down Egypt’s proposals on security, are of incalculable gravity,” Begin charged.
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