Building A New Era

A conversation with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon
Peres about the peace process.

S

hortly before his address to
3,500 people at Ahavath
Achim Synagogue in At-
lanta last week, Shimon
Peres spoke with Atlanta Jewish
Times Assistant Editor David
Holzel and Managing Editor Neil
Rubin.
The following are excerpts
from their conversation.
Atlanta Jewish Times:
There's concern over a re-
newed energy in building set-
tlements in the West Bank.
Can you make sense of that
for us?
Peres: We're not going to build
more settlements, not because we
have an agreement with the
Palestinians about it, but because
we think that mixing the lives of
one nation with another will
eventually create an insolvable
situation. We need to let them
have their lives and let us have
our lives.

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So do you consider the ex-
pansion of Efrat and Ma'aleh
Adumim [on the West Bank]...
There was no expansion. They
built some more flats privately on
private land, which is a different
story. But we can't confiscate
more land, even for expansion of
the existing settlements.

What do you expect from
American Jews in assisting
your efforts?
To support the peace process
in the United States. To partici-
pate in building a new era in the
Middle East. To participate in
bringing in and absorbing the
new immigrants. To teach your
children Hebrew and to keep
them Jewish.

Have you met with Georgia
Rep. Newt Gingrich during
this trip?
Yes. He expressed his readi-
ness to support the peace process
and I think he liked the idea when
I said that this support should be
done jointly by governmnts and
private enterprises. I told him we
need to privitize the peace process.
I think he liked that.

You have called for a re-
gional identity in the Middle
East. What does that do to
Jewish identity in Israel?
You can be a Jew and you can
be for peace. It's not a contradic-
tion. But for the first time in the
Middle East, we have a coalition
for peace which is not limited to
the Jewish people. We have
Arabs and Palestinians that are
participating. And I really do be-

Shimon Peres:
Seeks U.S. Jewish support.

lieve the most important issue
will be how to maintain our her-
itage, culture and language hi a
world of cable television. Occa-
sionally I'm more afraid of the
introduction television in Israel
than crossing of the borders by a
hostile army.

To get back to the original
question, what role will Jew-
ish identity play in a regional
identity for the Middle East?
We're not talking about re-
gional identity. We're talking
about regional economy and re-
gional strategy. Identity would
remain national. Those are two
completely different things.

Some people in Israel and
the United States say you
have lost the mandate to gov-
ern. How do you respond to
that?
They said the same thing to
Mr. [Menachem] Begin [prime
minister in 1977-831 when he
withdrew from the Sinai. They
forgot it. The same people called
Begin a traitor, too. So what?
Who will remember their calls?

What are your thoughts on
the situation of Jonathan. Pol-
lard?
[Mr. Pollard is an American
Jew serving a life sentence for
passing U.S. military secrets to
Israel.]
No, no, no. Go on, go on. Look,
I'm not here [to discuss] all
things. I shall answer some ques-
tions, not all of them.

Do you think that Islamic
fundamentalism is beyond
control?

