Mr. Peres formed his new government quickly. The three major personal changes from the Rabin government were: Mr. Peres became both prime minister and defense minister; former Chief of Staff Ehud Barak became foreign minister and Haim Ramon, chairman of the Histadrut, returned to the government as minister of the interior. There were no major changes in the basic guidelines of the Peres government, compared with the 1992 Rabin government, but the guidelines noted the achievements brought about by the two Oslo Agreements and the determination to pursue the peace process. Text:

1. GENERAL

The present Government of Israel has been established under unprecedented painful circumstances. The late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was murdered in the line of duty. The present government salutes his achievements in consolidating Israeli security, in peace-making, and in the accelerated development of the economy, and shall act to the best of its ability and understanding to continue his path and to preserve his heritage. In the weeks since the murder, Israeli democracy has withstood its harshest test. Out of mourning and pain, the country's strength and reserves were revealed. The Government promises to defend democracy, and to act to further strengthen and fortify it.

The central goals of the Government are: national security and personal security; safeguarding the democratic character of the state; the continuation of the peace process, through implementation of the Interim Agreement with the PLO, and the pursuit of full peace with Syria and Lebanon and other Arab countries; the continuation of the momentum of growth and development; the broadening of international and regional economic relations; the prevention of unemployment; the absorption and enhancement of immigration; the promise of complete equality for all citizens; and the observance of human rights.

2. FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND DEFENSE

2.1. The foreign affairs and defense policy of the Government will ensure the independence of the State; the bolstering of its security; and the establishment of peace with its neighbors.

2.2. The Government will be diligent in strengthening and preserving the power of the IDF, its deterrent capability and its ability to withstand any military threat.

2.3. The Government will act forcefully against all terror and violence. The IDF and the security forces will act toward the maximal reduction of the level of hostile activity and toward the maintenance of personal security for residents of Israel and residents of the territories, while adhering to the observance of law and of human rights.

2.4. The Government will provide residents of the settlements in Judea, Samaria and Gaza with their existential and security needs, and with municipal services, and will engage them in ongoing dialogue.

2.5. The Government will reinforce and strengthen settlement along the confrontation lines.

2.6. The Government will work toward the creation of a new Middle East, in which resources are no longer devoted to the arms race, but to development - grounded in economic, cultural and scientific cooperation. Progress in the peace process must be accompanied by the creation of systems for regional cooperation.

2.7. The Government will concentrate efforts to deepen and improve the special relations of friendship which exist between the United States and Israel.

2.8. The signing of the association agreement with the European Union will strengthen Israel's relations with its member-states. The Government will work toward the strengthening of relations with Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States, China, Japan and other states.

2.9. The Government will make efforts to cultivate friendly relations and reciprocal ties between Israel and all peace-loving countries.

2.10. The Government will continue to view Egypt as an important partner in efforts to establish peace in our region and will work for the advancement of understanding and friendship between the Israeli and the Egyptian peoples. The Government will continue to cultivate the peace between Israel and Jordan achieved by the previous Government.

2.11. The Government will uphold all the international commitments of the State of Israel.

3. JERUSALEM

3.1. United Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel, will remain united and totally under Israel sovereignty.

3.2. Free access to the holy places will be ensured for members of all religions at all times, and freedom of religion will be guaranteed.

4. IMMIGRATION ABSORPTION

4.1. The Government will work toward the absorption of the immigrants who have arrived in Israel, by the creation of social, economic and spiritual conditions for the realization of the central purpose of the State of Israel - the ingathering of the exiles of the Jewish people in its homeland.

4.2. The Government will ensure that the "absorption basket" and other forms of aid to immigrants will be of an appropriate level to guarantee immigrants their basic necessities during the most difficult first period. The Government will take particular care of weak groups among the immigrants, such as pensioners. The Government will diligently enforce the social laws which protect the rights of immigrants.

4.3. The Government will work to promote employment among immigrants in general, with emphasis on promoting employment solutions commensurate with the education and qualifications of the immigrants.

4.4. The Government will work to create suitable conditions that will help solve the housing problems of immigrants in general, and in particular those who require welfare housing.

4.5. The Government will work toward the continuation of immigration from Russia and from other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and to improve the immigrants' public image by stressing their significant contribution to the Israeli economy, society and culture.

4.6. The Government will continue its efforts to ensure the economic and social absorption of Ethiopian Jewry, implementing a policy of corrective preference.

4.7. The Government will continue the efforts to rescue persecuted Jews and bring them to a safe haven, and enable them to realize their right to immigrate to Israel.

4.8. The Government views the phenomenon of emigration from Israel as a negative and damaging phenomenon and will work to prevent it, while encouraging the emigrants to return to Israel.

5. RELIGION AND STATE

5.1. The unity of the nation and the proper functioning of society require the cultivation of tolerance, harmony among all facets of the nation, and freedom of conscience and religion.

5.2. The Government will refrain from any religious or anti-religious coercion by any party, and ensure public religious services for the residents, without any influence by political affiliation.

5.3. The Government will work towards respect for the values of the Jewish tradition and will strive to impart them to the people in the Jewish spirit of love and kindness, based on the premise that the State of Israel is a democratic Jewish state.

5.4. The Government will act to provide religious services for all citizens of Israel - religious, ultra-Orthodox, traditional and secular - on the basis of the principles of equality, fairness and legality.

5.5. The new arrangements for the allocation of funds to religious institutions will continue, in accordance with the State Comptroller's reports, on the basis of the legitimate criteria of the law, public decency and integrity.

5.6. The effort will continue in the coming years to increase the religious services budgets for Muslims, Christians, Druze and Circassians.

5.7. The Government will work to provide suitable solutions to particularly pressing problems related to religious services, including burial services for all citizens of Israel, a building plan for religious courts of law, and the improvement of the services to litigants in the religious court system, and problems of personal status.

5.8. An effort will be made to improve the religious services provided by the religious councils.

5.9. The Defense Minister will appoint a team, under his leadership, which will examine and determine the criteria for granting postponements of military service to those studying in religious academies, to prevent the negative exploitation of existing arrangements in this area

6. SOCIETY AND ECONOMY

6.1. The Government will strive to develop a modern, developed and flourishing economy of a high technological and industrial level, in order to provide the needs of a modern welfare state. The effort to achieve these goals will promote a higher standard of living for the residents of Israel; the elimination of disadvantaged areas; and the reduction of social gaps.

6.2. The Government will work to develop the economy, to increase the rate of economic growth and exports, and to create employment for the hundreds of thousands of immigrants and residents who will enter the work force in the next five years.

6.3. The Government views the guarantee of employment as a fundamental right of all citizens, and will make every effort to preserve and enhance the achievements of the previous government in reducing unemployment.

6.4. The Government will work toward adapting the economy to open management, free of administrative restrictions and excessive government intervention in market and economic life.

6.5. The Government will promote the sale of enterprises under its ownership, while maintaining a dialogue with the employees, guaranteeing their rights and giving them the option - when possible - to acquire stock in the companies being sold. The Government will maintain control over natural monopolies, such as the Mekorot Water Company and the Electric Corporation, and over sensitive defense industries.

6.6. In order to advance the Israeli economy toward full employment, while maintaining the stability of the market, there is a need for dialogue between the Government, the Histadrut trade union and the economic organizations. This dialogue must be constant.

6.7. The Government will direct the major part of its investments toward the implementation of essential projects which are aimed at creating a modern infrastructure in transportation, electricity, communications, water and sewage, high-tech industries, tourism and research and development.

6.8. The Government will work toward shortening procedures which burden the business sector, and will deal with matters pertaining to individuals.

6.9. The Government will implement a policy of controlled exposure of the economy in order to increase its efficiency and improve its products.

6.10. The Government will work to defend the consumer through the restriction and supervision of monopolies, and the prevention of restrictive arrangements, including monopolies over the import of goods and merchandise.

6.11. The Government will work toward the separation of the Government and public markets from party mechanisms.

6.12. The Government will take all measures necessary to improve the collection and payment of real tax.

6.13. The Government will work toward the creation of State and other tools which will encourage the growth of small businesses.

6.14. The Government will work toward the determination of a basket of social services (education, health, welfare and housing) which will be provided by law to all citizens.

6.15. The Government views the development towns as a pioneering and Zionist creation, and sees their strengthening and constant development as a central national goal. The Government will grant priority to the strengthening of development towns by instituting a scaled incentive policy for all development areas, while placing emphasis on the comprehensive development of the Galilee and Negev areas to the benefit of all their residents.

6.16. The Government will continue the implementation of the National Health Insurance Law, draw conclusions from its implementation and improve it where necessary. The Government will guarantee the development of the public health system, will formulate a long-term plan to guarantee chronic-care hospitalization for all those who need it, and will prepare a long-range master plan for the development of the hospital system in order to meet the needs of the growth and aging of the population.

6.17. The Government will continue the implementation of reform in the capital market, including the reduction of Government intervention in this market; the development of a risk-capital market; and the supervised opening of the Israeli capital market to international fluctuations.

6.18. Means to shorten the waiting list for chronic-care hospitalization, boarding schools and institutions for the mentally retarded will be examined.

6.19. The Government is committed to the realization of equality between men and women in all areas of life - including wages, employment and taxation - and will prevent all forms of discrimination.

6.20. Special steps - and, where necessary, legislation - will be taken in order to guarantee the complete equality of the real wages of women and men.

6.21. An inter-ministerial team will be established to deal with the matter of family violence against women and children, through the full application of the law on the prevention of family violence, with the assistance and further development of social and community services.

6.22. The Government will assist women in realizing their full capabilities in order to advance in management positions in the various systems.

6.23. The Government will work toward the bolstering of the system of services available to the working family, including the establishment of day-care facilities and the institution of a long school-day track in all educational institutions.

7. HOUSING AND CONSTRUCTION

7.1. The Government will work to advance the goal of providing suitable housing at a reasonable price for each and every family.

7.2. The Government will help provide subsidized mortgages for the purchase of apartments according to a progressive index that takes into account the economic and family situation of those entitled to receive mortgages.

7.3. The government will work to stabilize housing prices and deal with the market faults which limit the housing supply.

7.4. The Government will act to release lands from the Israel Lands Authority through various types of tenders, with the goal of reducing the price of land for construction.

7.5. The Government will prepare a long-term housing plan that will meet the housing needs of the next decade.

7.6. The Government will act to broaden the financial resources available for the purchase of housing.

7.7. The Government will work to improve transportation accessibility in the center of the country and between the center and the areas of national priority.

8. EDUCATION, CULTURE AND SPORTS

8.1. The Government views education as the central factor in the shaping of the image of the future generation of Israel. The imparting of knowledge, moral norms, human and national principles, will aid in the building of a productive and just society.

8.2. The Government will maintain the share of the education budget in the State budget at the level achieved in 1996, in order to ensure adequate resources to provide proper education on all levels, to all children of Israel.

8.3. Education will be based on the eternal values of the people of Israel - the values of democracy, tolerance and human civilization - as stated in the Declaration of Independence.

8.4. The school system will work to educate the children to love their fellow men, their people, and their land; and to be loyal citizens of the State of Israel, who honor their parents and family, their heritage, their cultural identity and their language.

8.5. The school system will work to develop the personality of the child, his creativity and his various talents in order to fully realize his potential as a person living a qualitative and disciplined life; to broaden his knowledge in the various areas of learning, science and human creation of all kinds, throughout the generations; to enhance his intellectual inquisitiveness and his powers of judgment and criticism; and to develop independent thinking and initiative.

8.6. The Government will work to broaden and deepen education to good citizenship in all sectors, in order to develop an attitude of respect for human rights, the basic freedoms and democratic values, the culture and views of others; and to promote tolerance and fairness in relations between individuals and nations, and to recognize the equal basic rights of all citizens of Israel.

8.7. The Government will work to develop a civic climate and a pleasant and tolerant learning environment in all schools, in order to protect the well-being and physical and mental health of the children, and to safeguard the rights of the pupils.

8.8. The Government will continue to act methodically and determinedly to bridge the educational and social gaps and to accord equal opportunity in education by enhancing learning on all levels, with a massive implementation of programs of educational intervention in order to advance the weaker sectors and to raise the level of educational achievement in all areas.

8.9. The Government will continue its policy of full equality in the allocation of resources to all Israeli children, and will guarantee proper learning conditions and level of teaching in all institutions of learning.

8.10. The Government will encourage the involvement of the parents in shaping the character of the schools in all sectors of the school system, and will facilitate maximum expression to the different values and religious viewpoints in society, in the spirit of pluralism and tolerance.

8.11. The Government will continue to encourage a steady improvement in the professional level and standing of the teachers, in full cooperation with the Ministry of Education, the institutions of higher learning and the teachers.

8.12. The Government will continue the accelerated development of higher education in all areas, and will act to increase the absorption capability of the institutions of higher education to ensure both excellence in research and teaching and a high academic level, based on world-wide criteria, and in order that every capable student will have the opportunity to obtain a higher education.

8.13. The Government will act to encourage original Israeli creativity in all spheres and allocate the necessary resources, thus guaranteeing the independence of the cultural institutions from the Government.

8.14. The Government will continue to cultivate sports in Israel, especially popular sports, while strengthening the democratic and voluntary nature of the various sport unions and organizations.

9. AGRICULTURE AND SETTLEMENT

9.1. The Government regards settlement in all its forms, as an undertaking of crucial value, to be consolidated and strengthened.

9.2. The Government will adopt an agricultural and economic policy which will enable settlement to confront the special problems it faces and to adapt itself to the changing realities.

10. ARABS AND DRUZE

10.1. The policy of the Government will be directed to ensure full civil equality for the Arab, Druze and Circassian citizens of Israel and to integrate them in all aspects of life, while respecting their religious and cultural distinction.

10.2. The Government will act to close the gaps between the Jewish and Arab, Druze and Circassian populations in the areas of housing and infrastructure, welfare, industry and crafts, agriculture, youth, health services and tourism.

10.3. The Government will act to equate the budgets of the Arab, Druze and Circassian authorities to those of the Jewish authorities.

10.4. The Government will continue to absorb Arabs, Druze and Circassians, especially academics, in the civil service and other public institutions, in all levels of administration, in order to include them in positions of national and public responsibility.

10.5. The Government will act toward the final approval of the master plans for Arab, Druze and Bedouin settlements, and to broaden existing master plans, in order to solve the housing problem of young couples.

10.6. The Government will act to resolve the problem of the unrecognized communities in the Haifa, Galilee and southern districts.

10.7. The Government will act to improve the Moslem religious services and to transfer Moslem religious property to the Moslem community.

10.8. The Government will act to find an arrangement for the Bedouin problem in the Negev, which shall be based on a combined solution to the lands problem and that of permanent Bedouin settlements.

10.9. The Druze community has linked its fate to the Jewish people and the State of Israel and has strengthened this link by the compulsory service of Druze and Circassians in the IDF. The Government will act toward the completion of a law of equality for Druze and Circassians, and will implement a special program for demobilized Druze and Circassian soldiers in housing and employment.

11. GOVERNMENT AND THE CITIZEN

11.1. The government will act to strengthen the foundations of democracy and educate to democratic values, and will enforce the law against all those who reject the democratic regime, and who incite and act against it.

11.2. The Government will act to advance the values of social justice, human rights and integrity, and to foster mutual respect among people and equal rights for all residents, regardless of religion, race, nationality, or sex.

11.3. The Government will complete the legislation of the Basic Laws in order to formulate a constitution.

11.4. The Government will combat crime, violence and incitement to violence, and will act to inculcate the recognition of the supremacy of the rule of law. The Government will complete the reform of then criminal code and criminal proceedings.

11.5. The Government will respect the independence of the judicial system and will act to strengthen it, to build new court buildings, to establish a family court and an administrative court, and to expedite court proceedings.

11.6. In an effort to bring about greater equality before the courts and to realize the basic right to defense, the Government will act to establish a public defenders' office.

11.7. The Government will continue its efforts to reform the work of the bailiff in the court system, and to improve services to the public.

11.8. The Government will act to strengthen the ties between the electorate and the elected, with the aim of strengthening the democratic regime, through the implementation of the law for the direct election of Prime Minister and the amendment of the system of elections to the Knesset.

11.9. The Government will act to prevent politicization of the public administration, to assure the civil status of public service workers, and will ensure that the behavior of the public administration employees complies with acceptable norms.

11.10. The Government will act to improve the services provided by all government ministries and associations to the public and to increase their efficiency.

11.11. The Government will review the report of the State Comptroller, draw conclusions from the criticism and act to correct flaws, in an effort to ensure proper administration and to uproot corruption.

11.12. In order to strengthen democracy, the Government will conduct a review of the laws enacted during the British mandate over Palestine, including the Defense Emergency Regulations and the Press Ordinance, in an effort to replace them with Israeli laws that will be compatible with the Basic Laws and with the values of the State of Israel as a democratic Jewish state.

11.13. The Government will continue to work to improve conditions in prisons and detention facilities.

11.14. The Government will guarantee the independence of the Broadcasting Authority. Public state inspection of the electronic media will be done in accordance with the freedom of expression law, with no political intervention.

12. ENVIRONMENT

12.1. The Government will protect the environment, and will act to eradicate or reduce the various ecological hazards and prevent the pollution of land, water, air and sea. Government policy will guarantee steady development, while protecting land resources, nature and the landscape, and maintaining open areas.

13. TRANSPORTATION

13.1. The Government will continue to invest in transportation infrastructure and to advance the development of a train network in the suburbs and in the cities of Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa; and in the development of public transportation to alleviate traffic on the roads.

13.2. The Government will give priority in all relevant ministries to the effort against road accidents, and will allocate resources to deal with the causes of such accidents.

13.3. The Government will continue construction of the Ben-Gurion Airport 2000 project, designed to receive 12,000,000 travelers annually in the first stage and 17,000,000 in the second stage, and will work to develop domestic aviation.

13.4. The Government will carry out the ports development plan, particularly in the Haifa and Ashdod ports.

13.5. The Government will continue to develop access roads to the Arab and Druze settlements throughout the country.