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CNN Live At Daybreak
Conflict in the Middle East: Interview of Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres
Aired October 23, 2001 - 08:28 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: While Americans have been focused on the war against terrorism, tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have escalated dramatically. Several Palestinians have been killed since Israel began retaliating for last week's assassination of a government minister and Palestinians shootings in Israeli neighborhoods. Washington is asking Israel to leave Palestinian areas.
For Israel's reaction, let's turn now to Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who joins us from Washington this morning.
Welcome, sir. Delighted to have you with us this morning.
SHIMON PERES, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER: Thank you. Good morning.
ZAHN: So the prime minister has made it quite clear that he will not leave those six West Banks towns for now. Why?
PERES: The United States has addressed the Palestinians as well, demanding they put in jail the people who killed our minister of tourism, to put in jail the eight or nine or ten Palestinians who are running the Palestinian Popular Front, who announced they are going to continue the killing, and to arrest the main troublemakers who provided them with a list of eight to ten persons, not in order to punish, but in order to prevent further acts of terror.
I believe the Palestinians can do it. We didn't demand something which is not doable. Once they will do it and the fire in the cities will come down, we do not have the slightest intention to remain there.
ZAHN: So you're saying you won't occupy those towns, but until Yasser Arafat delivers those conditions you just mentioned, you will stay there. How long do expect Israeli troops to remain in these towns?
PERES: I hope that Yasser Arafat will draw the necessary conclusions. Yesterday, a group of representatives of the United States of America, of Europe, of Russia, went over to visit Yasser Arafat. They provided him a list of people that, in their judgment -- not only in our judgment -- should be put in jail. I mean, a leader must make decisions. Leadership is not a very comfortable vacation. I believe that Arafat can and should do it, and they can and should do it immediately. The postponement will lead to more bloodshed -- totally unnecessary.
So it can be in a very short while -- but if they won't do it, we shall have to do it; that's our dilemma -- it's not our choice.
ZAHN: But it seems quite clear to the rest of the world watching this that you have more faith in Yasser Arafat then your own prime minister does.
PERES: It's not a matter of having faith; it's a matter of alternatives. We have to ask ourselves, OK, suppose that Yasser Arafat will leave the country -- then what? There are 3.3 million Palestinian people. Should they be left without any leadership, or should the opening for a new leadership be offered to a group of more extreme Palestinians, like Hamas and Jihad?
It's not a Romantic approach. We have to be hard minded and seek what is the best bet for us, for the Palestinians, and for peace. That's what leads me to my conclusions.
ZAHN: Prime Minister Sharon so far has adamantly refused a call for the freezing of the settlements. Yet later today, you're meeting with the secretary of state, where you're going to be talking about the George Mitchell plan and the Tenet plan, and implicit in those plans are a freeze on settlements. Is there a possibility of compromise here on settlements?
PERES: No. When we (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the national unity government, we made a condition that in the guiding line of the government, there will be a clear article that says that we are not going to establish any more new settlements. This is the policy of the present government, and I am sure the government will respect its own commitments.
ZAHN: Mr. Peres, I wanted to replay for you part of an interview I did with King Abdullah of Jordan, where he essentially said had there been peace in the Middle East, America would not have endured what happened on September 11. Let's listen to this so I can get your reaction.
PERES: Thank you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING ABDULLAH, JORDAN: If you have solved the problems of the Middle East, then obviously the core issue is that between Israelis and Palestinians -- I doubt very much that this incident would have taken place.
And again, that was a reminder to all of us, and why I think so many of us in the international community have been working so hard to bring a stop to the violence and to bring people back to the peace process. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: I did that interview with him the day after the terrorist attacks. What do you think of the linkage the king is making to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
PERES: I think it's 100 percent right. The Palestinians were offered a very generous proposal, that we shall withdraw practically from all of the territories, that they will have a position in Jerusalem. The king has to ask the Palestinians why did they reject it? What is the reason behind it?
You can hardly find a person in Israel that can understand the rejections by the Palestinians. And even among the Palestinians themselves, there is a great deal of criticism. So the question the king is posing is the right one, but to address directing the question is the wrong one.
We are for peace. We don't need a bin Laden to make peace. We gave back all of the land to the Egyptians, to the Jordanians. We withdrew from Lebanon without any bin Laden. Nobody needs this killer.
The same goes with the Palestinians. They don't need bullets. They don't need bombs. They don't need bin Ladens. They have to sit down in a very reasonable manner, and we can achieve an agreement. We do not intend to govern their destinies or to occupy their land. We wish they would have a state of their own. And it's hard to explain mistakes, even if it is the mistakes of our neighbors.
ZAHN: Sir, I need a brief answer to this, because I have to hit a commercial break: Is there any change that America could make towards its policy with Israel that would change the situation the United States is in today?
PERES: We feel that the United States is a friend of Israel, and needless to say, Israel has the highest admiration for the United States, and an identification is with the unprecedented war that the United States is now conducting -- a war that concerns every single individual all over the world and humanity at large.
So we are in the same camp. We want to see the same victory. We are willing to contribute whatever we may or whatever we shall be asked to. So the friendship is deep. I believe the intentions of the United States are right.
And I believe that if the United States will really tell the Palestinians to stop shooting and killing, then the whole situation will be changed overnight.
ZAHN: Well, it appears, though, the United States administration is putting much pressure on both sides here.
Shimon Peres, we appreciate your joining us at such a critical juncture in your talks with Secretary of State Colin Powell -- thank you. PERES: Thank you.
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