on the "RIGHT OF PEOPLES TO SELF-DETERMINATION"

(Agenda Item 94)

Third Committee
49th Session of the General Assembly
United Nations

17 November 1994
New York

Mr. Chairman,

Despite the title of the draft resolution before us, the issue in question is not that of self-determination. At issue is the commitment to the agreements signed by Israel and the PLO and to the essential principles underlying the peace process.

Israel has long advocated the principle of direct negotiations without preconditions as the only framework to advance peace in the Middle East. Again and again, this approach has been vindicated by every achievement in the efforts to bring peace to the Middle East, since the signing of the Camp David Accords and the Treaty of Peace between Israel and Egypt over fifteen years ago.

Indeed, this principle has formed the basis of the peace process begun at Madrid. In this framework, Israel and its Arab neighbors embarked upon ongoing bilateral negotiations; Israel and the PLO signed the Declaration of Principles and its subsequent agreements; and Israel and Jordan signed the agreements culminating in the peace treaty between the two countries. Israel looks forward to progress with other parties to the peace process as well.

In the Declaration of Principles (DOP), Israel and the PLO agreed that issues relating to the permanent status will be negotiated by the parties themselves in a later stage.

Moreover, in his letter of 9 September 1993 to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat wrote, "The PLO commits itself to the Middle East peace process, and to a peaceful resolution of the conflict between the two sides and declares that all outstanding issues relating to permanent status will be resolved through negotiations."

Unfortunately, the draft resolution prepared by the PLO, A/C.3/49/L.5, is intended to predetermine the outcome of the permanent status talks, and thus stands in contradiction to the obligations undertaken by the PLO in the DOP. It also contradicts the principle of direct negotiations without preconditions, which forms the agreed basis of the ongoing peace process.

Because draft resolution L.5 calls into question the inviolability of the peace process and the agreements it has produced, Israel will have to vote against it. It urges all Member States who support the peace process to do the same.

Mr. Chairman,

Israel welcomes the historic progress achieved in the peace process so far, and looks forward to further steps towards comprehensive peace in the region. Israel, on its part, remains committed to the peace process, and will make every effort to bring it to a successful conclusion. We call upon all parties to the negotiations to do the same.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.