NEWSWEEK: Was the perception correct, in the last government, that you were the visionary and Rabin was the moderating influence? ..MR0-
It’s total nonsense. We were a team. Look, we quarreled for many years. In the last three years . . . we developed a very special relationship in which we met, only the two of us: no protocols, no other witnesses. Nothing ever leaked. No accusations. It was something very rare in political life. For me, it was a real shock, to have to replace him.
For many years they accused me of being a man without any vision, a great administrator, a doer. Half my life I suffered because I supposedly didn’t have vision. Now I suffer because I have vision and nothing else. . . You must have both a vision and a capacity to implement it. Because if you have a vision without relating to reality, you have nothing. You have a fiction, and what we need in politics is nonfiction. ..MR.-
Do you see a possibility of a breakthrough with Syria? ..MR0-
We have heard what the Syrians are demanding. We don’t have a good idea of what the Syrians are willing to do in return. When the Arabs say “peace for land,” [that means] we give back all the land [but] we don’t feel we get a real peace. In the case of Syria, this is the last negotiation. . . the end of wars in the Middle East, the end of belligerency. ..MR.-
Do you think that the Israeli people are ready to accept a peace deal with Syria? ..MR0-
Look, my profession is not only to guess what the Israeli [public] is feeling. My profession is also to offer the Israelis solutions. The act of leadership is not just to measure the weather and announce it. We are not in the business of meteorology. ..MR.-
But isn’t politics the art of the possible? ..MR0-
Now who knows what is possible? Nobody knows. If you look at what happened in the last three years, it was the art of the impossible. Nobody believed that [peace with the Palestinians and Jordan] would be possible. ..MR.-
Are you going ahead at full speed with the Palestinian-Israeli peace agreements? ..MR0-
We have a very clear timetable. Before Christmas, we have to complete our redeployment from populated Arab areas . . . six [West Bank] cities, except Hebron. Then, on the 20th of January, the Palestinians hope to go to elections. For us to see the Palestinians going for a democratic election is really important. Nothing can guarantee a stable peace more than free elections. Two months later, they have to nullify those articles in the Palestinian Covenant which call for the destruction of Israel. In May, we have to begin the negotiations on the permanent solution. In August 1996, we have to make the first of several further redeployments. On Oct.. 29, we will have elections in Israel. This is the itinerary for 1996. ..MR.-
You have opened a dialogue with religious elements. How essential is it to bridge the schism among Jews? ..MR0-
It’s essential for peace . . . Look, the majority [of religious Israelis] don’t support our policies. But there is a minority that supports us. And why should we lose this minority? If we have 30 percent of the religious vote, we have a majority. If we mobilize the whole 100 percent of the religious vote against us, we don’t have a majority. ..MR.-
What tone do you expect to take with the U.S. Jewish community [with which Rabin had strained relations]? ..MR0-
I shall try to do my very best to establish a dialogue. I’m used to meeting people who don’t agree with me. ..MR.-
The next time a bomb goes off in Tel Aviv or in Jerusalem, how will you reassure Israelis? ..MR0-
It may happen. We didn’t promise there won’t be any bombs in the future. What we promised–and that is what is happening–is a gradual change on the Arab side. The grief that the Arabs have shown was the most important expression for us. You know, after the killing of Yitzhak, the condolences [from Arabs] revealed an aspect of peace that was either covered or considered nonexistent. ..MR.-
How key is the backing of U.S. groups to radical organizations in Israel? ..MR0-
We will not generalize. When we know that a person intends to come to Israel in order to commit acts of terror or support terror, we don’t feel we have to welcome them. ..MR.-
Are you worried that further political assassinations might take place? ..MR0-
I know there is a professional risk. . . There were many threats on my life and they continue. I know there were even more threats on Yitzhak Rabin’s life. But you know, you cannot live in fear. You can die from fear. And I prefer not to fear death. I’m not worried at all.
