Mr Major’s Comments on Bomb in Israel – 5 March 1996

Below is the text of Mr Major’s comments on the bomb in Tel Aviv, Israel, in a pool interview held on Tuesday 5th March 1996.

QUESTION:

Prime Minister, a third and very serious bomb, you of course condemn it?

PRIME MINISTER:

I think it is an evil act. What has been happening in Israel has been a determination to try and find a settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians. A huge amount of work has gone into that, a huge amount of goodwill. And now some evil acts are seeking to drive that whole process off course. This is the third such atrocity in the last few days and there is no conceivable way in which it can be explained, it is quite literally evil. We have had some experience of acts of sheer terror like this, acts simply to murder, to destroy and to make a political point. I think they are absolutely unforgivable and my heart goes out to the Israeli people.

QUESTION:

The real worry must be that such serious acts – suicide bombings like this – will cut off the peace process?

PRIME MINISTER:

Well I think that is what they are intended to do. I think they are intended to break up any chance of a rapprochement between the Palestinians and the Israelis and it will be very difficult to keep the process in being. I very much hope, though clearly it will make life very difficult, I very much hope after a while it will be possible to continue.