Ban Ki-moon
Secretary-general, United Nations
Your Excellency,
On behalf of the State of Israel and the Jewish people, and as
an expression of our sincere intentions to achieve comprehensive
and lasting peace with the Palestinian people, we submit for the
consideration of the Security Council the following commitments,
and have no objection to these commitments being expressed in a
resolution.
The people of Israel and the entire world seek a just and
lasting peace in the Middle East, which should include the
application of both the following principles:
The resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is predicated
on the mutual recognition of the rights of the Jewish people and
the Palestinian people to self-determination as expressed in UN
Resolution 181 from November 29, 1947 leading to the
establishment of two nation-states for two peoples on the
territory that was the British Mandate until May 14, 1948.
The Jewish people accepted the 1948 partition plan which led to
the creation of the State of Israel. The Arab world rejected the
resolution, and as a result the state of Palestine has yet to be
established. The government of Israel under my leadership has
agreed to the establishment of a Palestinian state which shall
be established upon arriving at a comprehensive peace agreement
between the PLO and Israel. The establishment of the state of
Palestine will be on the basis of the June 4, 1967 borders, in
the areas of Judea, Samaria (the West Bank) and Gaza, with
agreed-upon territorial swaps enabling a reasonable adjustment
of the borders that takes into account the developments on the
ground since June 1967.
The territorial swaps principle will ensure that the State of
Palestine will be of equal size to the territories conquered by
Israel in June 1967, so that 22% of the territory between the
Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea will be the Palestinian
state and the remaining 78% will be the State of Israel. The
lands that will be exchanged from territory inside Israel will
be uninhabited.
BASED ON these principles, the government of Israel and the PLO
will enter into immediate direct negotiations on the exact
borders between them. The negotiations will include security
requirements for peace, the future of Jerusalem, refugees,
water, economic relations and sustaining a culture of peace.
Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the State of Israel, yet we
note with unease that the nations of the world have not yet
recognized it as such. Through the peace process we seek full
international recognition of Jerusalem as our capital and,
therefore, recognize the need to address Palestinian claims
regarding its future. Israel also recognizes the importance of
the holy sites in Jerusalem to all three religions, and will
consider together with the Palestinian leadership all proposals
to guarantee free and open access to all people who respect the
sanctity of the sites.
The treaty of permanent peace will establish Palestine as the
Palestinian homeland, just as Israel is the homeland for the
Jewish people. Israel is a democratic peace-loving state which
accepts its obligations contained in the United Nations Charter,
and in the spirit of the UN calls on the Palestinian people to
join hands with us to resolve this conflict through negotiation
and dialogue. Both parties are free to raise all their claims
and issues for resolution in the negotiations.
We welcome the continued assistance of the United States and the
Quartet in facilitating the negotiations. This is a time when
historic leadership is necessary. We firmly believe the conflict
is resolvable. We call on all members of the United Nations,
especially members of the Arab League, to take positive steps
that will encourage moderation and will support our efforts for
peace.
We know that as we move forward toward peace, the enemies of
peace will step up their efforts to destroy our achievements
through terrorism. Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists are
faithful to their covenant of destroying Israel. This we cannot
allow, nor can the Palestinian leadership. We call upon all
nations to cast out those who support and launch terrorism. We
call on all nations to put an end to the flow of money and
weapons to terrorist organizations. Terrorism is the most
dangerous enemy of peace and democracy, and we must all face the
challenges that these criminals pose with resolute commitment
and determination.
Through direct negotiations we can reach peace. Once we have
completed the negotiations and have arrived at an agreement
which puts an end to the conflict and to all claims of both
parties, the State of Israel will be proud to sponsor the call
to admit the state of Palestine as a full member of the UN.
In peace,
Binyamin Netanyahu,
Prime Minister of Israel
The writer is co-CEO of the
Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (www.ipcri.org)
and is in the process of founding the Center for Israeli
Progress (http://israeli-progress.org).