The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

Tag: Israel

  • Mr Major’s Speech in Jerusalem – 12 March 1995

    Below is the transcript of Mr Major’s speech which was made in Jerusalem on Sunday 12th March 1995.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Prime Minister, Mrs Rabin, Mr Mayor of Jerusalem, Distinguished Guests. Over the years I have attended many formal occasions. I must tell you in the confidence of this private meeting that they don’t always seem to me to be like a family occasion. But I think tonight is different. Looking around this room I see a very large number of familiar faces, so many old friends that I feel very much at home here in Jerusalem, and for Norma and I it is a real pleasure to be with you here this evening.

    To come to Israel, to come to Jerusalem at any time is a very special event. Norma and I do so together for the first, but I hope and pray not for the last, time. It is a very rare moment for us and one that we will always treasure.

    I have often thought of Jerusalem, thought of it perhaps like millions of other people in the words of the song “Jerusalem the Golden”, a holy city, a place of pilgrimage, a place of devotion. It means many different things, some expressible, some perhaps to individuals inexpressible, to people who come from many different parts of the world. But whatever their background, for everyone they can agree that Jerusalem is unique. I share that feeling again this evening.

    In my country one of our great poets, William Blake, wanted to see the sanctity and the beauty of Jerusalem in our own green and pleasant land in England. His poem “Jerusalem”, familiar I think to everyone in this room, is sung each year at the end of the Promenade concerts in London, and many of you will know it as an enthusiastic and an inspirational event.

    But Jerusalem of course is a great deal more than that, it exerts a very powerful sense of history, a history stretching back through many thousands of years, a proud history but in many ways a tragic history, but above all a history of hope and this year above all years we look back particularly to the terrible period 50 years ago of the Second World War. We have recently commemorated the liberation of Auschwitz. In April we will commemorate the liberation of Belsen by British troops, British troops who were deeply affected by what they found when they arrived there. Many of the survivors of Belsen live in Israel today, many of them no doubt in Jerusalem, others live in Britain. The horrors of the past make for a shared understanding and remembrance for the future.

    In May we shall give thanks for the end of the war in Europe and four months later we shall commemorate the cessation of hostilities in the Far East. There are many people here in Israel, some of them beyond doubt here this evening, who participated in those battles. We remember the contribution of your pilots, one of whom is now your President. We remember the heroic contribution of your parachutists dropped behind enemy lines. And some of you of course fought in the British Army under the Star of David flag, marching together as Churchill memorably expressed it in that high comradeship for freedom and for the deliverance of mankind.

    Tomorrow I shall go to Yad Vashem, a place of special pilgrimage for all mankind, to remember six million Jews murdered in the holocaust. The struggle of the survivors to rebuild their lives, so many of them here in Israel, attest movingly to the capacity for hope, ultimately for hope to triumph against the most appalling despair. Very probably, in all history, there is no greater testament for hope than the fact that so many people from that terrible background, from those terrible memories, were able to look forward and build a new life for themselves, so many of them here in Israel where they felt perhaps for the first time in their lives at home and I hope safe.

    We owe it, I believe, to those who died or suffered to find ways to carry forward that hope, to promote mutual respect, toleration, peace and reconciliation. But as we plan for the future, unless we are prepared to remember what happened in the past and take action against it, we may find ourselves condemned to re-live that past again. So we are constantly tested. The scourge of terrorism, as you said Prime Minister, has afflicted both our countries. I believe there can be no place for violence in any democratic society. I know that you share this view. We agree that terrorism is the common enemy and whatever the cost it must be implacably opposed. We must persevere in the search for lasting solutions to long-standing divisions.

    I remember with affection our last meeting sometime ago in Downing Street. And yet only hours after that meeting on a particularly dark and dank October afternoon last year, another terrorist atrocity in the heart of Tel Aviv shocked the world. That tragedy was followed by others. Our hearts in the United Kingdom have gone out to the people of Israel. The bombers’ intention by their actions must be perfectly clear to anyone who thinks about it for about a second, it is to derail the peace process, to damage the people who seek peace, to end the prospect of trying to produce a future that is without violence and with hope. They seek to use terror for their own purposes.

    It is to your credit, Prime Minister, and that of your government and of the people of Israel that they have not succeeded in that aim. And in the future they must not be allowed to succeed, they cannot be allowed to succeed, and I have no doubt that that is a view that you and I share very deeply indeed.

    I stand today in Israel among a people for whom the yearning for peace is fundamental to their very instinct, it is symbolised in the olive branches that form part of your national emblem. In my country the people of Northern Ireland have the sane yearning. But we also know, both of us Prime Minister, that you cannot have peace without security, that you cannot make peace without patience, without tenacity, without courage and. without the will to seek it, to take it and to hold it. We know that and I believe that will is here in Israel and that it will prevail in the future.

    Relations between the United Kingdom and Israel go back of course, as you said, to the very foundation of the State of Israel and to the Balfour Declaration. You, Prime Minister, reminded me some time ago that your own father joined the British Army’s Jewish Legion as a result of that declaration, that he came here as a British soldier in 1918, which is why you yourself were born here.

    Let me speak for a moment about British/Israeli relations, the seven strands of our shared interests: in politics, defence, culture, education, science, trade and investment. Our countries have had their disagreements in the past, at times with painful and with tragic consequences. But Britain and Israel, despite those disagreements, whatever they may have been, however hard the hurt might have been at the time, Britain and Israel have always been bound together by a huge network of family ties and close personal friendships, and that is reflected in the large party of businessmen, parliamentarians, educationalists and academics who have come with me to Israel from the United Kingdom today.

    Those historic differences I believe are behind us and we are bound now by friendship, respect, cooperation and understanding. Our political relationship, as both of us have made clear again today, has never been as warm as it is tonight, we have never had so much content and so much common ground, and it is my wish, Prime Minister, and yours, that we keep that valued effect and build on it in the future.

    Since you took office, Prime Minister, there has been a marked and very welcome increase in high-level political contacts in both directions and I am delighted that you personally, Foreign Minister Perez and many of your Cabinet colleagues have been frequent and welcome visitors to London. Most recently, my friend and colleague, Malcolm Rifkind, made the first visit to Israel by a British Defence Secretary and in that context I remember with gratitude your cooperation with the Allies during the Gulf War and the resolution of your people under missile attacks.

    The fears and the uncertainties of that time, the gathering of every family in its sealed room, that made a very strong impression upon us in Britain. I vividly remember personally long nights in the Cabinet Room at Downing Street as reports arrived of further Iraqi Scud missile attacks on Israel. We waited anxiously as your people donned face masks in case the Scuds were chemically-tipped as we feared they well might be. We felt deeply for the innocent Israeli victims of violence. We rejoiced in the success of the Patriot batteries and I also authorised certain measures from London to cut off those attacks.

    In what developed into their largest and most significant operation since 1945, the United Kingdom Special Forces were charged specifically with countering the threat posed by the Iraqi Scud missiles. Those Special Forces achieved very remarkable success; significantly fewer Scuds took to the air as a direct result of their efforts. In carrying out their tasks, the Special Forces and the air crews supporting them showed a determination and a courage of the highest order. In little more than one month, Prime Minister, some forty gallantry awards were won by those involved in those operations on land and in the air and in this country of all countries in the world that so well understands the meaning of courage, the value of that contribution needs no further underlining.

    Since the Gulf war, the United Nations Special Commission has made great progress in detecting and destroying Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and this has been achieved by the firm and sustained pressure of the sanctions regime. Mr. Prime Minister, sanctions must continue until their objectives are met and met in full. Last year’s threat to Kuwait, to which the United Kingdom responded very firmly, was a timely reminder. Saddam Hussein continues policies of harsh repression to Iraq’s people, he continues to threaten the stability and the security of the whole region and there are still very serious questions to be answered about Iraq’s biological weapons capability. United Nations sanctions come up this week for renewal. The international community must not be gulled by Saddam’s tactics of evasion and deception. I can assure you that the United Kingdom will not be deceived. We shall continue with good reason to approach sanctions rigorously in the interests of Iraq’s people and of the Middle East as a whole. We are determined to ensure that the whole of Iraq’s biological capability is detected and once detected is then destroyed before there can be any question of adjustments to the sanctions regime.

    At the other end of the spectrum, Prime Minister, is our common cultural heritage. I was pleased to hear that the Royal National Theatre showed you their skills last year. Next year, the Royal Ballet will be with you and meanwhile the British Council will be bringing to Israel a host of other actors, actresses, dancers, writers, musicians and painters. There are also intense and longstanding links between us on the academic field, many of them assisted by remarkably generous private philanthropists and many of you have studied in Britain and I want similar opportunities to be available for future generations.

    With that in mind, we are providing ever more scholarships and study grants, we are training your teachers of English, we are encouraging university links. We shall be working with and helping your Ministry of Education in running English-language summer camps in Northern Israel this summer and tomorrow I shall be announcing a scheme of British awards for excellence in English.

    This evening, I can tell you that we are going to double the science and technology fund established last year for joint work on subjects where we are both pre-eminent. We are also establishing with you a new, special arts training programme which will build upon the Israeli love for British drama and British music.

    These links, Prime Minister, are underpinned by a fast-growing trading relationship that now amounts to over £1.5 billion a year. Israel is Britain’s third-largest market in the Middle East and among our top twenty five worldwide.

    I have brought with me on this occasion a team of businessmen and industrialists that I believe is beyond doubt the highest-powered business delegation ever to travel abroad with a British Prime Minister. Tomorrow, they sit down with their Israeli counterparts to discuss how the rapid development of our economies can best be tapped to our mutual advantage.

    Trade and investment go hand-in-hand. The United Kingdom now has one of the highest growth rates in Europe, rising employment and low inflation and that is recognised in every part of the world with possibly the single exception of the United Kingdom itself! [Laughter] But I live in hope!

    We are unencumbered by many of the high, non-wage labour costs that burden business in the rest of Europe. We have privatised and we have deregulated. The benefits, I believe, are self-evident. Britain welcomes investment from abroad and Britain likes to invest abroad. We have more external investment per head of population than any other nation anywhere in the world. I believe the chance to boost mutual interests is very great. Investment in the British economy of course is not only profitable in itself, it gives access to the largest single trading market in the world and I believe investment in Israel is a prudent investment for the future.

    Prime Minister, no British Prime Minister can come to Israel without being acutely conscious of the wider political changes that face you. The United Kingdom is not a party to the peace negotiations but we are determined supporters of those negotiations. The role of a friend is to support, to offer private advice and public help. We all recognise that in the longer term Israel and her neighbours must reach an accommodation and Israel must take her rightful place in the region. We welcome and we firmly support the peace process and we applaud the courage which Israel has shown in pursuing it. You have made great strides: first, in 1980, peace with Egypt; now, a peace treaty with Jordan. Difficult negotiations lie ahead with Syria and Lebanon but the goal of a lasting peace is unanswerable, it is surely right to keep on trying however difficult, however frustrating, however hard the road may be and however many setbacks you may encounter upon that road. Meanwhile, negotiations with the Palestinians will remain essential to Israel’s future and those negotiations are bound to be complex, they are bound to be difficult, they could scarcely be anything other, While you continue with that process of seeking peace, the terrorists will go on trying to destroy that process of seeking peace; that is the nature of terrorism but that violence and that extremism serve nobody’s end.

    I would say, if I may, as an external observer of what has happened, surely it can be in neither side’s long-term interest to turn back from the progress that has been made. Substantial progress has now been reached; Palestinian self-rule now includes control of their own agriculture, education, tourism and taxation and to all those like the United Kingdom who wish the peace process well, there is a great deal to be welcomed in what has already been achieved and I believe it is starting to bear a wider fruit. Israel’s contacts in the region are widening, the Arab boycott is visibly decaying, the international community widely supports your search for peace. Of course, difficulties will arise, setbacks will be inevitable and steady nerves will be needed as you carry the process forward. I have no doubt, Prime Minister, that you have the steady nerves that are necessary and the United Kingdom will stand shoulder to shoulder with those who continue that search for peace.

    Very soon, you will be celebrating the Festival of Purim. It is a happy time, a time of giving gifts, a time for charity, a time for joy, a time for revelry, a time to celebrate historically the defeat of evil, a time to remember that evil can be defeated, a time to recall that across the centuries people have arisen to destroy the Jewish people but they have failed to destroy the Jewish people. The celebration reminds us of your survival and your strength as a nation.

    If I have a wish as a visitor to your country, as a friend, I hope, of your country, it is that the spirit of happiness and rejoicing that is characteristic of that celebration will always be here in Israel, that the spirit of peace will flourish in the region, that the drive for peace – so hard to achieve but so hard-pushed for so long – will succeed. That, I think, is a prayer that all the friends of Israel and all friends of the Middle East can willingly subscribe to.

    Thank you for inviting Norma and I to join you at this dinner this evening. Thank you for inviting us to Israel for what is already turning, out to be a memorable visit. We looked forward to it before we came and I believe the reality is matching up to our expectations.

    May I, as your guest, ask you to rise for the toast that I would wish to propose: a toast to the Prime Minister of Israel, to the United Kingdom-Israeli relationship and to the future success of the peace process for all the people of Israel. [Applause]

  • Mr Major’s Joint Doorstep Interview with the Israeli Prime Minister – 12 March 1995

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s joint doorstep interview with the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Yitzhak Rabin, held in Jerusalem on Sunday 12th March 1995.

    MR ARAFAT:

    Prime Minister of Britain, I would like to welcome you here in your official visit as the Prime Minister of Britain to Israel and to the Middle East. You have come in a very crucial period, in the peace process I believe that we have made tremendous moves in which we brought the beginning of a solution between Israel and the Palestinians, we signed a peace treaty with Jordan, and we are committed, Israel is committed, to implement its DOP with the Palestinians, of course hoping that the PLO will overcome the terror. The peace treaty with Jordan needs cultivation and assistance and we hope that negotiations with Syria and Lebanon will be resumed.

    These issues were discussed today with Prime Minister John Major, in which we put the way that we see what are the hopes, what are the dangers. We discussed bilateral relations between our two countries, stating on my side that we believe that today we have improved tremendously the bilateral relations between the two governments, between the two peoples, and will try to do even more in every aspect in which we can find common bases and common interests.

    We discussed also the relations with the European Union, that Britain is one part of it, an influencing part in the policy of the European Union, and other issues related to these three categories: the peace process, the bilateral relations and the relations between Israel and Europe. It was only the beginning of the talks, only the beginning of the visit. On Tuesday we will have a meeting again in which we will try to conclude what has been discussed, what will be discussed, and in what ways we can get assistance from Britain to the peace process and to develop the bilateral relations between our two countries.

    Welcome, Prime Minister, and thank you very much for coming.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Prime Minister, thank you very much indeed. I can echo all you have had to say in the last few moments. Let me just make a few points to drive the substance of what you had to say home perhaps a little further. I do not have any doubt whatsoever that the present bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and Israel is better than it has been at any stage in the past. A great number of things have contributed to that and our discussions this afternoon have been looking towards areas where we can build on that for the future.

    I enjoyed our discussions over the present situation and future prospects for the peace process. A great deal has been done, a great deal still remains to be done, and I have no doubt that you will move down that path with the same courage in the future that you have shown in the past. We will have the opportunity of resuming discussion on that a little later during my visit.

    We also spent some time on bilateral matters, on how to accelerate trade, on how to accelerate investment both in Israel and in the wider Middle East in order to improve the levels of prosperity and cut off much of the grievance that tends sometimes to express itself in the sort of programmes that terrorism seek to put forward. Terrorism can be cut off by increasing prosperity, and as you have indicated Prime Minister, greater trade, greater investment, greater well-being, can do as much to undermine terrorism as political activity itself.

    I welcome those discussions and I am delighted we were able to look at a series of detailed matters. We discussed both bilaterally and as far as the European Union is concerned a number of matters that will have the effect, I hope, of increasing the trade and business relationship between our two countries. There are areas that need still to be ironed out. We discussed those, we have taken those on board, we will look at those in some detail. We discussed also some of the agreements that indicate very clearly the improved relationship between our two countries, and we have just had the opportunity of signing a couple of them.

    In the next couple of days we have some more very intensive discussions and I will have the opportunity of seeing a great deal locally myself and I very much look forward to that.

    I also have no doubt at the beginning of this visit that at the end of this visit we will have cemented even further the improved relationship we have seen in recent years. I have looked forward to this visit for a very long time and if the discussions we have just had have been any guide to what lies ahead in the next day or so then I have no doubt that it will prove a very successful meeting of minds across a whole range of subjects.

    QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

    QUESTION (John Sergeant, BBC):

    Mr Major, could I ask you about your meeting with Yasser Arafat on Tuesday? Some people are suggesting that if you are happy to meet Mr Arafat, who was regarded as a terrorist, you should welcome the possibility of President Clinton meeting Gerry Adams later this week. Can you discuss that comparison and say why you reject that comparison?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I am here in fact to discuss matters related to Anglo-Israeli relations, rather than that. But let me just say a word or two about that. Terrorism has now been renounced by Chairman Arafat; I have not seen it comprehensively denounced by Mr Adams. Chairman Arafat is now actively opposing terrorism; I am afraid that Sinn Fein are still directly associated with a fully formed terrorist organisation. Chairman Arafat has signed the Declaration of Principles; Sinn Fein of course have not yet committed themselves to the Downing Street declaration and they are not yet party to any agreement in Northern Ireland.

    Now there are a range of other difficulties, if I may make the point. The government entered the diplomatic contacts with Chairman Arafat after he had explicitly renounced terrorism and committed himself unambiguously to peace. It was only after Chairman Arafat had signed the Declaration of Principles that I met him last year at Downing Street. So I think the comparison that some people may be seeking to make is a mischievous comparison.

    QUESTION:

    [Not translated].

    MR RABIN:

    [Not translated].

  • Mr Major’s Comments on the Israel Trip – 10 March 1995

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s comments on his trip to Israel, made in an interview on Friday 10th March 1995.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked what he hoped to achieve during his Israel trip].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I think it is a visit that is overdue. It is the first visit by a British Prime Minister to Israel since about 1986, so I am looking forward to seeing the Prime Minister, I shall certainly see the President – I am looking forward to meeting the President again – and also the Foreign Minister.
    I think there are three or four different things we want to discuss. Of course, we shall want to discuss the peace process; of course, we will want to discuss the wider Middle East question; but I will also want to discuss bilateral relations and the tremendous opportunities that I think have opened up for improved trade and investment between our two countries and it is wholly with that in mind that I have such a distinguished collection of British businessmen going.

    There are three points about the businessmen really; firstly, they are going. Secondly, the quality and size of the companies and the range of areas they cover; and thirdly, the fact that it is the very top businessmen who are coming, in many cases the chairmen, and I think that speaks very highly of the changed atmosphere and the changed opportunities for the future so I am very optimistic it will be successful.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked what would Britain offer to the peace process?].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I look forward to discussing it at length both with the Prime Minister and with Chairman Arafat in Gaza. I don’t want to anticipate those discussions. I had the opportunity of discussing it with the Prime Minister just a few months ago most recently and Chairman Arafat I think at the end of December 1993. There are several things I will wish to discuss: of course, the political aspects, but I think there are several components.

    It is a very difficult process, this peace process. They have travelled further down the road than most people imagined was possible. From time to time, they have road-blocks, they have managed to overcome them and proceed. They seem to have made a little more movement towards elections when Mr Perez and Chairman Arafat met just yesterday. I will want to discuss whether there are any diplomatic ways in which we can assist that process. I think the biggest help diplomatically is for people to know that members of the G7, members of the Security Council stand behind this process, wish this process well, will give it a fair wind and will help diplomatically where they can. Beyond that, there is more practical assistance, of course, and that is the pragmatic, practical assistance that can come both bilaterally from those countries and also from the European Union and I shall also wish to discuss that.

  • Mr Major’s Interview in the Middle East – 10 March 1995

    Below is the transcript of Mr Major’s interview on Friday 10th March 1995.

    QUESTION:

    We are very proud to have you here with us and we hope that this is the beginning of a permanent relationship between our newsroom and 10 Downing Street. I’m sure it will be a much closer relationship and I’m delighted to be here.

    Prime Minister, let me first of all start by asking you about the Middle East Peace talks. It seems like in the last few months it has reached an impasse and we believe that probably you will be visiting this area soon. We’d like to know if you are taking with you any new items or suggestions of initiatives to break this deadlock?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I’m looking forward in the next few days to very extensive discussions both with Chairman Arafat in Gaza and also with Prime Minister Rabin. I think at the end of the day the agreement is going to have to be reached between them, between the Palestinians and between the Israelis. But I think there is a great deal the rest of the world can do to help. One of the problems that has occurred of course, has been much of the difficulty in obtaining investment and obtaining good living standards. We’ve very real practical problems to discuss and I will be taking with me a large number of the most important and senior businessmen in the United Kingdom and we will be looking at what can be done in practice to improve trade, improve investment and lay the groundwork for a much higher quality of life for people in those areas.

    QUESTION:

    Prime Minister, you may be aware of the fact that any peace initiatives or any peace talks may not succeed if they can’t get the full sincere, political commitment as well as financial support. The European Union as well as Britain have promised the Palestinians a certain amount of money to implement the Oslo Agreement. So far that commitment hasn’t been met. Are you going to take this with you when you go to Chairman Arafat?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    The European Union meets its commitments and it will meet its commitments on this front. There’s a certain amount of bilateral assistance that we’ve been able to give. That apart from our contribution via the European Union is a significant bilateral contribution that the United Kingdom has been able to make and we may be able to help a little more as well. I shall discuss that with Chairman Arafat.

    QUESTION:

    Prime Minister, I have been noticing the British foreign policy in the last few months, events seem to concentrate on what is going on with your neighbours, I mean the European Union. Are you worried a little bit that it might lead to Britain being isolated from its traditional allies like the Gulf States, the United States and Japan?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    No, I’m determined that isn’t going to happen. About half our trade as a whole operates within the European Union, but the other half operates beyond it and the other half is expanding quite dramatically. The world is opening up in a remarkable way. The growth of our trade in recent years with the Middle East, with the Far East, with Latin America, all tremendous scope for improvement and although the European Union is very important to us, we have no intention of devoting so much intention to our concentration within the European Union that we neglect the rest of the world. We have longstanding and very traditional friends in many parts of the world, least up and down the Gulf and the Middle East and we have no intention of moving away from that.

    QUESTION:

    So Arab/British relations will improve as far as you are concerned in the light of foreign policy in the next few years?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I’m determined they will. I’ve had a very large number of visits to Arab leaders whom we’ve traditionally known for many years. Ever since I became Prime Minister and they’ve going to continue. Indeed in my visit next week, not only will I be meeting Chairman Arafat in Gaza but the day after I will be going to see King Hussein in Jordan. So those relationships are traditional, they’re valued relationships. They’re relationships we’ve had for very many years and there’s no question that they’re going to continue and I believe improve.

    QUESTION:

    From the foreign policy to the domestic policy. Opinion polls suggest that the Conservatives are not as popular as they should be and in the light of the new leadership of the Labour Party, Tony Blair. Will you still after two years be in 10 Downing Street?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Yes I think we will. As far as Tony Blair is concerned, we get on perfectly amiably. We’re leaders of different parties. We have our disagreements, but they are political.

    QUESTION:

    Prime Minister, thank you very much for talking to us and we wish you a very successful trip to the Middle East.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    It’s my pleasure and I’m looking forward to it.

  • Mr Major’s Speech at the Joint Israel Appeal / Jewish Continuity Dinner – 21 November 1994

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s speech to the Joint Israel Appeal and Jewish Continuity Dinner, made on Monday 21st November 1994.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen,

    This is a charity dinner, an event founded on high ideals. And as I look around, I see people who are known and respected for their ideals and their outstanding public service. I am hugely privileged to be your guest tonight.

    I would like to say a word or two about those ideals, because I think they are very important.

    I would also like to say a word on the relationship between the United Kingdom and Israel which, in my view – and I know that Prime Minister Rabin won’t mind me saying that it is his view as well – has never been warmer, and never had so much content.

    Then perhaps I may touch on the politics of the Middle East.

    Joint Israel Appeal/Jewish Continuity/Jewish Values

    First, this is a dinner to support the Joint Israel Appeal and Jewish Continuity.

    It is no surprise to find an old friend, Trevor Chinn, presiding over the Appeal. Trevor is one of those people who seem to be everywhere and deeply involved in everything – and yet still to have the capacity for more. We all owe him a great deal.

    I understand that the Appeal brings help to around 11/2 million people every year – to the young and the old, the disadvantaged and the infirm.

    That is an astonishing figure, but it is also entirely typical of the Jewish capacity for self-help and good works. I am told – and I hope soon to see this for myself – that there is hardly a public building or park, or even a forest, in Israel which has not been created through funding from public-spirited individuals and bodies such as yourselves.

    I can fully share Churchill’s sentiment when he said:

    “I was very glad to have had the experience of watching the life and work of the Jewish community in England. There is a high sense of corporate responsibility in the community, a great sense of duty.”

    At the Lord Mayor’s Banquet exactly a week ago, I expressed concern at irresponsible attacks on our institutions, and at the way in which respect for public service was being undermined. So my eye was caught – in a note on Jewish Continuity from the Chief Rabbi’s office – by a very similar sentiment:

    “the institutions which framed our public life and gave us a sense of belonging have come under assault.”

    They have. And it’s dangerous. And it should stop. It is easy to tear things down. It is much more difficult to build them up.

    Jewish Continuity stresses the central importance of the values which have inspired and united Jewish people over two thousand years.

    It stresses education – and how appropriate that the Israeli Minister of Education, Professor Rubinstein, a great friend of Britain, should be here this evening.

    It underlines duty, honesty, service, neighbourliness, and the virtues of working together in local communities. It sees the risks of selfishness and isolation in our rapidly changing world.

    And it points up the way in which the family has always been at the heart of Jewish life, the institution on which all others depend.

    Jewish Continuity is an admirable initiative by the Chief Rabbi, now being carried forward by Dr Michael Sinclair and his team. I am delighted that it has attracted such strong support. I hope it will go from strength to strength.

    Britain and Israel

    The values we share form a bond between Britain and Israel. So, too, does the extraordinary network of personal connections which this dinner reflects. Moshe Raviv may have only a small staff in his Embassy – but he has thousands of personal ambassadors for Israel throughout the community. And they are also ambassadors for Britain in Israel.

    But events, and the determined efforts of many individuals on both sides, have brought us much closer together over the past few years – closer, as I have said, than we have ever been before.

    This was brought home to me most strongly only a month ago.

    My latest meeting with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin took place on the evening of 18 October, before he too spoke at a dinner of the Joint Israel Appeal. Sitting in Downing Street, we compared notes on the problems we had both faced confronting terrorism. We talked about extremist attempts to undermine the peace process in the Middle East. Mr. Rabin expressed his utter determination not to let terrorism move Israel from its chosen, and courageous, course.

    That determination was tested, and not found wanting, early the following morning. He rang to say that Israel had suffered its worst outrage in sixteen years, and he was going to have to return immediately to deal with it. He said that he was not going to let the process be derailed. There were people who did not want the Israelis, the Palestinians, the Jordanians and their other neighbours to live in peace. They were not going to prevail.

    And they have not prevailed. Jews and Israelis have suffered atrociously, from the attack in Buenos Aires, the attack on Moshe Raviv’s Embassy here and the bombing of Balfour House – where the Joint Israel Appeal has its British headquarters.

    We must all stand firm against such actions. The British Government intends to protect all of its citizens. The Jewish community needs to be secure and to feel secure. There can be no relaxation of vigilance and there will not be.

    And the peace process has continued to move forward. Only days after the Tel Aviv bus bomb, Yitzhak Rabin and King Hussein signed the Peace Treaty between Israel and Jordan on their border in the Arava desert. A British Minister, Douglas Hogg, was there to show our support.

    And in the centre of Tel Aviv, I am told that Dizengoff Street is already back to business as usual.

    That is the way to show the men of violence that they will never win.

    Terrorism knows no national boundaries. It is a threat to the rule of law everywhere, and to the democratic forms that Britain and Israel cherish.

    But it is not only tragedies which have brought us so close together.

    Since President Herzog’s visit to London under two years ago, a whole series of events has strengthened and extended the friendship between Britain and Israel.

    The Duke of Edinburgh’s visit last month, to receive a citation in honour of his mother from Yad Vashem, was particularly poignant.

    And two of my Cabinet Ministers have just been to Israel to break new ground, and have returned full of enthusiasm.

    David Hunt went out to create new links in science and technology. And that is not the only thing he seems to have promoted. Sometimes Ministers come back from trips looking a little weary and jetlagged. But David came back in the pink, bursting with ruddy good health. Not only had he been swimming in the Dead Sea, but I gather that he also practically ran up and down Massada.

    Science is very important to both countries, and we are both extremely good at it. Indeed Israel has more scientists per head than any other country. Now we have set up a UK/Israel Science and Technology Research Fund. And it has already attracted nearly 200 first class applications from top British and Israeli researchers who want to work together.

    Already we are exploring joint projects at the leading edge of science and technology – in lasers, electro-optics, medical biotechnology, and other – ologies too numerous to mention.

    No sooner had David Hunt come back than Malcolm Rifkind went out. Malcolm was the first British Defence Secretary ever to visit Israel.

    For many years, our defence relations were constrained. When I told Yitzhak Rabin how delighted I was at the visit of the Israeli Chief of Staff, General Barak, he reminded me that he himself had paid the last visit to Britain by a Chief of Staff – and that was in 1965.

    We are now in a very different ball game. Israeli officers are attending British staff colleges. Royal Navy ships are making regular port calls to Israel. HMS Cornwall, on its way home from the Armilla patrol, has just paid the first visit by a naval ship for many years to Eilat.

    And earlier this year, responding to the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Jericho, I removed the embargo on sales of defence equipment. The way is now open for responsible two-way trade in a sector in which both countries excel.

    The experiences of my colleagues have only whetted my appetite for the visit to Israel which I have long wanted to make.

    The prospects for British/Israeli cooperation are very great and I intend to explore them fully.

    I want to see us working ever more closely together for stability in the Middle East.

    I want Britain to continue to sponsor closer ties between Israel and the European Union – as we did during the recent renegotiation of Israel’s co-operation agreement with the EU.

    I want us to keep up our strong cultural and educational links.

    We have thriving British Council and FCO scholarship programmes, some of which are funded in partnership with Jewish philanthropists.

    The British Council is tremendously active in Israel. They are working with Professor Rubinstein’s Education Ministry to upgrade the skills of English language teachers throughout Israel.

    Though Israeli visitors should not be deterred from coming to the theatre in London, as they do in droves, I am delighted that the Royal National Theatre and British musical groups have visited Israel this year – adding to the quarter of a million British tourists and other visitors who will go there.

    Not least, I want to promote trade. Trade between Britain and Israel is soaring upwards. British exports went up by 50 per cent last year and a further 22 per cent so far this year. Israel is Britain’s third largest market in the Middle East. A British company, Isrotel, has built hotels in Eilat. Rover are starting to sell their cars with much success. New companies are coming into the market. Seventy visited Israel for the first time last year. And millions of people in Britain eat food from Israel and wear clothes made there for firms like Marks and Spencers.

    But we can do much more together. So, when I go to Israel in March, I shall be taking with me a party of senior businessmen, some of whom are here tonight. Some are already important players in the Israeli market. Some will be new to it. I want them to see, with me, the opportunities for trade and investment which undoubtedly exist.

    The Middle East

    I promised to say a few words about the politics of the Middle East.

    Many of the differences between the Arabs and the Israelis which for years seemed irreconcilable are now melting away.

    It is no longer fanciful to think of a return to the long-distant period evoked by Balfour when he opened the Hebrew University.

    He recalled:

    “That in the darkest days of the darkest ages, when Western civilisation appeared almost extinct, smothered under barbaric influences, it was the Jews and Arabs in combination, working together, who greatly aided the first sparks which illuminated that gloomy period”.

    We have seen remarkable illumination since I spoke to some of you at the dinner of the Board of Deputies in March last year.

    Then, no bilateral agreements had been reached between Palestinians and Israelis.

    Now we have seen the first birthday of the Declaration of Principles.

    We have seen the Cairo Agreement on autonomy for Gaza and Jericho.

    The Arab boycott is visibly on its way out. Israel now has diplomatic relations with 148 countries. At the Casablanca Conference earlier this month, Israeli and Arab Ministers joined Europeans and Americans to work together for a brighter economic future for the region as a whole.

    It took vision and great courage to achieve the breakthrough. The Nobel Committee will soon be honouring Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon. Perez and Yasser Arafat in Oslo. And rightly so.

    But they will need our continuing support in carrying the process forward.

    Last Friday’s disturbing events in Gaza make it all the more vital to sustain progress in the Palestinian autonomy, and to help the new authorities there. The Palestinians need to see that terrorism and violence bring no gain, but that tangible benefits will come from the peace process.

    For our part, we are accelerating Britain’s aid to them. We also hope that our Israeli friends will help to provide as much employment as possible within Israel; and will allow the import of aid-related equipment into the Palestinian areas, and the transfer of tax revenues collected on behalf of the Palestinians.

    The Palestinians themselves must streamline their administration so that they can absorb the aid which the international community is offering. And we must do all we can to encourage private sector investment there.

    The success of the peace process depends heavily on moderate Palestinian leaders, and we should all redouble our efforts to help them.

    After the Treaty between Israel and Jordan, I hope there will soon be a breakthrough on the Syrian track.

    The prize for Syria is clear: the return of the Golan.

    The prize for Israel is equally great: a binding agreement with the last immediate neighbour which could threaten her security. And that security, self-evidently, is crucial for every Israeli.

    There are of course still serious threats to the stability of the Middle East, which affect us all. We have had a very recent reminder, when Saddam Hussein chose once again to menace Kuwait. The immediate reaction from Britain, the United States and other countries, at the United Nations and in our case also deploying troops, ships and aircraft, will have left him in no doubt, I trust, of our resolve.

    When our friends in the region are threatened, we shall come to their help to the limits of our ability. Where there is aggression, we shall oppose it.

    Saddam has now recognised Kuwait’s sovereignty and the border demarcated by the United Nations. That is a step forward, and owes much to the determination and diplomacy of the coalition partners. But it is not enough. We have no basis for trusting Saddam Hussein. Iraq must comply rigorously with all the requirements of the Security Council: on weapons of mass destruction, on compensation, on prisoners of war and so on.

    The international community must accept nothing less.

    Nor can we relax our vigilance towards Iraq’s neighbour, Iran.

    Iran has sought by every means to undermine the peace process. Time and time again, Iran has been implicated in subversion and terrorism. Her record on human rights, like Iraq’s, is wholly unacceptable.

    I do not dispute Iran’s importance and potential. I have nothing but sympathy for the ordinary people of that country, as of Iraq. But the Iranian regime must draw only one conclusion. It will be judged by its actions, by the rules of the international community, and by the norms of civilised behaviour.

    Conclusion

    Let me end on a brighter note.

    For most of its history, the modern state of Israel has been under threat.

    And for many of the 77 years since the Balfour Declaration, Israel and the United Kingdom have had a schizophrenic relationship. We have been bound together by ties of blood and personal friendship; but sometimes parted by political disagreements.

    Now Israel is taking her rightful place in her own region. And she is at the same time drawing ever closer to Britain and to our partners in Europe.

    Britain’s friendship with Israel does not compete with our relations with other countries in the Middle East.

    They are complementary.

    They contribute to peace in the Middle East.

    They will contribute to the development of the region as a whole.

    And a Middle East at peace with itself – something we have not seen in living memory – will be a place we want to visit and to invest in.

    Through Jewish Continuity, you are sustaining the faith and the ideals which Churchill described as “a precious thing, a bond of union, an inspiration and a source of strength”.

    And through the Joint Israel Appeal, you are giving remarkable support – not politically, not to the State, but to ordinary people in Israel. In many cases, to people who have arrived from other countries with little or nothing, coming to a safe haven and the land of their forefathers.

    For every contributor to your appeal here this evening, there are, I know, many thousands outside.

    Thank you for your welcome and your invitation.

    Thank you, too, for your resilience in the face of difficulties and danger this year.

    I wish you all possible success in your efforts for Jewish Continuity and the Joint Israel Appeal.

  • Mr Major’s Doorstep Statement at the International Motor Show – 19 October 1994

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s doorstep statement at the International Motor Show in Birmingham NEC, given on Wednesday 19th October 1994.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    “I spoke to Mr Rabin early this morning as soon as the news came through whom I met also yesterday and I expressed to him my sorrow at what happened there. It’s clearly a despicable act, a very cowardly act and was clearly intended to damage the peace process and to drive it away from the forward movement we have seen over the last year or so. I very much welcome what has been achieved in the Middle East.

    This mustn’t be permitted to stop it. I am convinced Prime Minister Rabin and others will wish to continue with the peace process and they will receive our full support in doing so.”

    [When asked whether this would damage the peace process he said:]

    “I hope not and I believe not, clearly the purpose behind this bomb was to put an end to the peace process. That was what the evil people who set this bomb off intended to do. I believe it’s very important that they don’t achieve that and that’s why my support for the peace process in the Middle East is total and I believe that will be the overwhelming view around the world.”

    [The Prime Minister was asked about the Royal family and he said he had nothing to say.]

    [He was also asked about Tam Dalyell’s allegations that Mark Thatcher has been administering a Tory slush fund he said:]

    “He know’s that’s not the case and why he keeps talking this nonsense is something you’ll have to ask him.”

  • Mr Major’s Speech to Conservative Middle East Council – 28 July 1994

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s speech to the Conservative Middle East Council, held in London on Thursday 28th July 1994.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Mr Chairman, Ambassadors, Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you firstly very much for your warm welcome, I am delighted to be your guest here this evening.

    I think it is more than a truism to say that this dinner tonight is timely. We are at the moment in the midst of a crucial period in the history both of the Middle East and of Arab/Israeli relations. So I am delighted at this particular moment to have the opportunity to address the Conservative Middle East Council and I shall use it in just a few moments to make an announcement about our support for Jordan.

    I have had, as your Chairman has just trailed, a personal interest in the Middle East ever since, as a new back-bencher, I visited the West Bank. It had its exciting moments, as Tony Marlow who I see is here this evening, will no doubt recall, others on that trip will have very special memories of some very exciting occasions during that special visit.

    But since then I have had the opportunity on many occasions to follow that up as Prime Minister in visits and many meetings and I hope within the course of the next few months to make a further visit or two to the region.

    So thank you, Chairman, for your hard work in organising the dinner and for your kind words. You and your colleagues in the Middle East Conservative Council represent a long tradition of interest in Middle East affairs in the Conservative Party. Standing at the Dispatch Box day after day I have, for good or ill, ranged behind me every shade of opinion and people whose detailed knowledge of the region stretches over many years and in some cases through many generations of their family and that can sometimes be a little daunting.

    Ever since 1980 when Lord Chelwood and your President, Dennis Walters, established this Council you have helped our party to build closer and better links with the Arab world. The influence of the Council has been profound. You have always been candid about where your sympathies lie but also ready to listen to other points of view. You have worked with people on all sides who want to see a peaceful settlement of the Arab/Israeli dispute and you have promoted the cause of moderation and peace throughout the Middle East.

    I am also particularly glad this evening to see the Dean of the Arab Ambassadors, Ambassador Mohammed Shakir [phon], and so many of his colleagues here with us this evening. Egypt has helped to lay the foundations for a lasting peace in the Middle East and Ambassador Shakir has played his own part in this historic and vital work on behalf not only of the Middle East but of the whole world.

    I want in a few moments to turn specifically to the peace process, that brings far brighter news for us than many people might have imagined not very long ago. But before I do I want to say just a word or two about the two shocking terrorist attacks in London this week. They are alas not isolated events, there have been other acts recently, for example those in Buenos Aires and Panama which have taken an appalling toll. We cannot yet be certain what lay behind those acts or who perpetrated them, neither can we yet be certain whether they are connected, but I know that you tonight would want me to express the repugnance of everybody present at those attacks and at all acts of terrorism and our sympathy for the victims and for the bereaved of those attacks.

    Terrorism is the enemy of everyone present here this evening and of many hundreds of millions not present here this evening. Terrorism has been directed at those who seek peace and progress in the Middle East, terrorism is perpetrated by those who refuse to abide by the rule of law and by the principles of a civilised society, we must seek out its perpetrators and bring them to justice, it is unacceptable for any state to tolerate, let alone support, terrorism and the international community must unite against it both now and for so long as it lasts.

    If I had said just a year ago that we were on the threshold of a new era in the Middle East I doubt that very many people would have believed me, optimism was out of fashion. But last August word began to spread of an outline agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. And when the declaration of principles was signed in September, a blow against pessimism everywhere was struck. That act of courage, for that is what it was, transformed prospects for the region.

    Now Israel has completed its withdrawal from Gaza and Jericho and the Palestinians have made an encouraging start in assuming their new responsibilities there. The knot has been cut, it is now easier to go forward than to go back and it is essential that we go forward with that peace process.

    We strongly support the declaration of principles and we particularly wish to give practical help to the new Palestinian administration in Gaza and Jericho and we aim to commit at least 75 million pounds in bilateral and multilateral assistance over the next three years. We are giving priority to the Palestinian police, good security self-evidently is vital to the Gaza/Jericho agreement. We have already run two training courses in the United Kingdom for senior Palestinian police officers and we provided equipment and in the future we shall do more. We are helping other pillars of the new entity. The Bank of England is advising the Palestinians on setting up a central monetary authority and that is something that I agreed we would do when Yasser Arafat visited London last year. British experts are helping to prepare for the elections later this year and to build the legal infrastructure. And we of course intend to help the private sector, the need for new enterprises and new jobs is self-evident.

    A comprehensive settlement is of course the ultimate goal. Last Monday’s summit between King Hussein and Prime Minister Rabin has been another huge step forward. I am one amongst many who can count themselves as a personal friend in Britain of King Hussein. I believe he has shown indomitable courage over many years and has led Jordan towards democracy as well as towards peace.

    So I applaud the Washington declaration ending the state of war between Jordan and Israel. We wish to support Jordan in every way we can along the path charted by King Hussein. I know from my many discussions with the King that the burden of accumulated debt has weighed heavily on Jordan for many years. If we can alleviate this burden I believe we can help Jordan’s economic growth and democratisation and underpin the new relationship with Israel.

    I am therefore delighted, Chairman, to announce tonight that Britain will be converting outstanding balances of loans to Jordan by the Overseas Development Administration to a grant, this will be worth approximately 60 million and should be seen as a powerful signal of our support for King Hussein and for Jordan.

    And we hope also to see early progress on the Syrian and Lebanon tracks. In Lebanon, despite the continued Israeli presence in the south, impressive efforts are under way to rebuild the country, and in particular Beirut, after years of destructive conflict that destroyed that magnificent and historic city. A just and a lasting comprehensive settlement is now a real possibility, it would produce a lasting stability, something unknown to anyone now living in the near East. And it would offer the chance of growing prosperity, of increased trade and investment, of better communications and of harnessing the talents and potential of all countries in the regions, including Israel. With this more hopeful prospect it is surely time to end the Arab boycott of the eight summit nations proposed at Naples.

    More generally I would like to see a new partnership and a deeper understanding between Britain, Europe and the Middle East. In his Oxford speech last October the Prince of Wales argued that the links between the West and the world of Islam mattered more today than ever before. As he rightly said, there is much that binds the cultures of the West and the Middle East together, respect for knowledge and for justice, compassion for the under privileged, the importance of family life. We deeply respect Islam, we do not regard it as a threat. It is completely wrong in our judgment to equate the extremism of a few in the Middle East with the religion of Islam.

    We live in neighbouring regions of a shrinking world. Thousands of Britons live and work in the Middle East and in other Islamic countries, hundreds of thousands of the citizens of Britain adhere to Islam in this country. We benefit from the diversity and richness of each other’s culture and traditions, just as we do from the vibrant network of personal and professional connections. And we must jointly stand against those who ferment misunderstanding or seek in whatever way they can to try and drive our countries apart.

    The surge in British trade with the Middle East last year shows some of the benefits of partnership, helped by the efforts in fact of many of the people here present this evening. British exports to the region went up by nearly 15 percent with increases of up to 50 percent in some countries. The peace process should contribute to the growth of two-way trade in the future. And within Europe we shall of course lead the drive for more liberal trading arrangements to the benefit of all.

    These are exciting prospects but there are problems too and I should like to say just a few words about them. It is now over three years since Kuwait was liberated. But dealing with the consequences of Iraq’s aggression is sadly a continuing task for us. There is one clear objective, full and complete

    implementation by Iraq of all the relevant Security Council resolutions. We seek to help the Iraqi people, not to prolong their suffering. I deeply regret their hardship because they deserve better than they receive, but it is the Iraqi regime which by its failure to act and by its cruel and repressive policies is prolonging this suffering. None of the Security Council requirements is unreasonable, none of them is difficult, fulfilling them would enable Iraq to rejoin the international community.

    And Iraq’s neighbour – Iran – presents another serious challenge to the international community. Iran is an important regional power, we would prefer a normal relationship with Iran but many aspects of her behaviour are simply unacceptable, in many cases threatening, on human rights, on terrorism, her military and nuclear ambitions, her attempts to undermine the peace process. The Naples Summit captured the view of most members of the international community, the eight nations there wanted the government of Iran to participate constructively in international efforts for peace and stability. But we also said clearly and unequivocally that Iran had to modify its behaviour to allow that to happen and we look to Iran to heed that message.

    In Yemen the recent civil war has caused acute humanitarian problems and serious concern to the country’s neighbours. We supported the decision of the two former states to unify in 1990, we supported morally and materially the democratic elections of 1993. We were all the more disappointed when the unified government failed to operate either effectively or justly. A lasting solution will be found only through negotiation and dialogue. We have tried to help this process, we promoted both the Security Council resolutions, we have kept in close touch with our good friends in the region and we understand their concerns, we have supported relief efforts. All of us present this evening share the goal of restoring stability to Yemen. The United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy, Mr Brahimi [phon], is now trying to bring the two sides together. I urge the Yemeni authorities to cooperate fully with him in the search for stability and internal peace.

    With Libya the unresolved question of the Lockerbie bombing is another impediment to regional stability. We have said repeatedly that we are entirely prepared to suspend sanctions if the two suspects are handed over for trial either in Scotland or the United States, if the French obtain satisfaction over the UTA bombing, and if Libya renounces terrorism irrevocably. We have no other aims. Suggestions have been made from time to time for trying the accused elsewhere, such as in The Hague, possibly under Scottish law or even before a specially established United Nations tribunal.

    I have to say to you tonight that such ideas are not acceptable, they imply that somehow the jurisdiction of the Scottish courts is flawed and unreliable and that special arrangements should be made for the sake of terrorist suspects. We have given the Libyans every assurance of a fair trial in Scotland and humane treatment of the accused. If Libya complies with the Security Council resolutions there is no reason why our relations should not once more become positive and beneficial.

    Touching, if I may for a moment, on the Mahgreb, I would like to mention Algeria. We and our partners welcome the Algerian government’s agreement with the IMF on a far reaching economic programme and we are supporting it financially. Extremism thrives on economic deprivation. Successful economic reform will do much to widen support for Algeria’s government and her institutions.

    Let me if I may now turn at slightly greater length to Bosnia. We are again facing a very serious situation. For the past five months there has been a fragile peace in Bosnia, a fragile peace across most of Bosnia, tenuous, tense, often interrupted but nevertheless a form of peace. People have begun to rebuild their lives and their properties, as I saw for myself when I last visited there and saw people returning to their village after months and months hiding well away from it. Some hope had returned.

    That peace resulted from negotiations between the Muslims and the Croats in which British United Nations commanders played a crucial part. It has been preserved only because UNPROFOR was there to help preserve it, again with a large British UNPROFOR contingent playing a leading part and going first into some of the most dangerous places, such as Gorazde, to protect the population and mostly of course the Muslim population.

    Let me first describe what our aims have been in Bosnia. They have at times been misrepresented and at other times misunderstood, but it is important to be clear about them. It has not been our objective to impose a peace on Bosnia by military force simply because that has never been an attainable objective for the United Kingdom and our allies. If a simple military solution had been attainable of course we and others would have gone for it long ago. But anyone who has studied the terrain and the military dispositions of Bosnia knows that imposing peace would have required a huge military force, it would certainly have required the deployment of very large numbers of American ground troops as well as those of other NATO allies. That has never been in prospect, the casualties, including civilian casualties, would have been enormous, the conflict long and uncertain and the result would not have been a lasting settlement.

    So we have pursued three clear and realistic objectives. First, in the two years since I convened the international conference in London, we have unremittingly pursued a negotiated settlement, a settlement acceptable to the peoples of Bosnia, in short the only form of settlement that would last. I shall come back to that in just a moment. Second, we have sought to contain the conflict within Bosnia and we have so far succeeded in this. It has not spread yet to other volatile areas such as Kosovo or Macedonia. Croatia is mostly now at peace, East and West have not lined up on opposite sides, there has been a remarkable unity of purpose between Europe, the United States and Russia throughout this year.

  • Mr Major’s Statement after Meeting with Shimon Peres – 8 September 1992

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s doorstep statement following a meeting with Shimon Peres, the Israeli Foreign Minister, on 8th September 1992.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    We have been discussing the peace making process and the progress that has been made, and I think it is a much happier atmosphere that exists and a greater prospect of peace. I have made it perfectly clear that we would do whatever we can to speed that peace process up – not just the United Kingdom but the whole of Europe want to see that peace process make progress so it is in the interests of all the people in Israel and all the people throughout the Middle East.

    People are sitting down and talking now – that is very welcome. It is a credit to both sides that they are doing so. I think it is essential that those talks continue. From time to time there will be difficulties, there will be hitches and set backs but the important ingredient is that those talks are taking place and that those talks continue despite the setbacks that might occur. I believe there is a will there to continue those talks – it has not always been evident, but it is evident now and I think that is a very good sign.

  • Press Release – Prime Minister’s Comments on the Middle East – 30 June 1992

    Below is the text of the Conservative Party Press Release on Mr Major’s comments on the Middle East. It was issued on Tuesday 30th June 1992, reference 884/92.

    PRIME MINISTER SPEAKS ON THE MIDDLE EAST

    “As great friends of Israel, Robert [Rhodes James] and Michael [Latham] – like everyone here tonight – will have watched last week’s General Election result [in Israel] with interest,” said the Rt Hon John Major MP, Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party, in remarks to a Conservative Friends of Israel dinner in London in honour of Robert Rhodes James and Michael Latham, who retired from the House of Commons at the General Election.

    “Perhaps I could say just a few words about what I think the result means.

    First of all, I think it offers an opportunity to all concerned – Israel, the Arabs, and other interested parties including the Europeans – to renew their efforts to pursue peace.

    For my part I can say this: helping to achieve peace in the Middle East will be a very high priority during the British Presidency of the European Community.

    It is most definitely not for outsiders to try to dictate to Israel the terms of a peace settlement. These must be freely negotiated and agreed. But we ought to give our views on the solution of a problem which carries such dangers for Europe and the rest of the world.

    It would be unwise to exaggerate the EC’s influence over negotiations. It should not puff itself up beyond its influence. But we, during our Presidency, will do all we can to assist the bilateral negotiations. We stand four-square behind the American-led peace process. We shall do everything we can to help.

    We shall also be fully involved in the work of the multilateral groups. During our Presidency, we shall be chairing the regional economic development group meeting in Paris. We will be active in the other groups – refugees, arms control, water, environment. But much depends on progress in resolving the central political issues which are addressed in the bilateral negotiations.

    If we are to have a lasting settlement, I believe that there will have to be agreement on three key principles.

    First, we must ensure the security of the state of Israel. This must be the key to any agreement. We are 100% committed to it.

    No-one living through the Iraq conflict can doubt it. I believe the Gulf War was a turning point in many ways. For Israel it demonstrated the West’s commitment to the state of Israel. For us in Europe and the wider world, Israel’s mature response in what was undoubtedly a very frightening and difficult situation increased understanding and improved Israel’s standing considerably. So let there be no doubt, the state of Israel came of age politically during the Gulf War.

    And public opinion in the West is united on the overriding need to ensure the security of Israel.

    But that security means that there must be a settlement to the problems of the Middle East. And that means there must be self-determination for the Palestinian people. There is no solution to the overall problem, no peaceful future for the states of the region until the Palestinian problem is solved.

    It has to be a solution that is acceptable and will endure. Not a solution that is imposed and will not endure. Not a solution that is imposed and will give rise to future conflict.

    We have every reason to believe that the new government in Israel will be determined to make very early progress in the negotiations on the five year interim autonomy arrangements and elections in the Occupied Territories. This will be a great fillip to the prospects for peace.

    We have always taken the view that there will have to be some kind of territorial compromise. More and more people accept this. Here too, we look to the parties in the negotiation for flexibility and imagination.

    There is no doubt that settlement activity has been a major impediment to the peace process. So we also hope that a new Israeli government will move to curb settlement activity in the Occupied Territories. There is no doubt that nothing would do more to help build confidence than curbing new settlements. And in response, I would expect the Arab states to lift the iniquitous boycott on trade with Israel.

    I believe that we now have the chance further to strengthen links with Israel. To build on the traditional friendship between our countries and to increase opportunities for trade. I also very much hope to visit Israel and meet the new Prime Minister.”

  • Mr Major’s Doorstep Interview on the Gulf War – 20 January 1991

    Below is Mr Major’s doorstep interview given outside Church at Chequers on Sunday 20th January 1991.

    QUESTION:

    I would just like to get your view on the Patriots sent to Israel – what is your reaction to that?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Let me just say a word about last night’s activity.

    The weather, as you may have heard, was not terribly helpful and conducive last night to our operations. Nonetheless, there were a very large number of sorties again and preliminary reports would seem to indicate that they were very successful.

    What is clear is that this continual day-and-night bombardment of the Iraqi war machine is gradually beginning to damage the destructive capacity that it has and I suspect this phase of the war will continue for a considerable period of time. It certainly seems to me the right way to proceed.

    I am pleased that last night there were no further attacks on Israel and I think it is entirely right of the Israeli Government to have shown the restraint that they have and I commend them upon that – I think it is an act of considerable statesmanship to have done so. They are now, as you may know, going to have some more Patriot defensive missiles with American support and I hope that will give them a greater degree of comfort against the wholly unprovoked and unjustified attacks that they face.

    QUESTION:

    Are we talking about a war of weeks or months, Prime Minister?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    It is impossible to say, isn’t it? One can never be quite sure how these events will fall out. I would imagine it would be a war of quite a few number of weeks but how far that will extend, it is too early to say.

    QUESTION:

    Are you encouraged by opinion polls showing a large measure of support for your policy?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I think there is a very considerable amount of support for the general policy of the United Nations, for the Allied policy. I think there is a very great understanding of the nature of the regime in Iraq, what it has done, potentially what it could do and, of course, the sort of activities we have seen in the last few days with the wholly unprovoked attacks on large civilian centres in Israel will reinforce that support, I believe. Yes, I am very encouraged by it.

    QUESTION:

    Prime Minister, these Patriots that have gone to Israel, are they going to be simply a comfort for Israel or are they going to provide real protection? Have they sent enough?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I think they are going to provide some very substantial protection for Israel, most certainly. They are a very formidable defensive weapon and they are in the hands of people who know how to use them so I think it is a wise policy to have sent them and I think they will be a very considerable comfort to Israel. I am delighted it has happened.

    QUESTION:

    And as you say, you welcome Israel’s continued restraint.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I think it is remarkable. I am absolutely delighted with it. I urged the Israeli Government to restrain; thus far, they have done so. I think that is entirely right. I hope they will find themselves able to continue to do that.

    QUESTION:

    Prime Minister, is the war just about to enter a much more bloody phase with the attacks on troops at the front?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I think it is difficult to say. The war phase will continue in terms of the attacks on airfields and military establishments for a little while yet – it is impossible to say how long – but of course, it is also necessary to weaken the Iraqi war machine in other ways and therefore it will be necessary to attack their key troops. That is absolutely necessary. We want this war to end as satisfactorily and as speedily as possible and our commanders in the field have the authority to make the appropriate attacks – and they will continue to have that authority.

    QUESTION:

    Do you think public support for the war may start to diminish if we start getting a lot more casualties?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I think the public are very well aware of what is at stake in this war. The degree of support there is at the moment is absolutely remarkable. I hope and expect that that degree of support will remain.

    QUESTION:

    Can we take it from what you are saying, Prime Minister, that we can expect the ground war to start any time now?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    No. I have nothing whatsoever to say about that; absolutely nothing whatsoever to say about that.

    QUESTION:

    Can I ask you, finally, how you heard about the Patriots being sent to Israel?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    We heard through the open line from the White House. We heard that some time ago.

    Thank you all very much indeed!