INTERVIEW WITH MK MAXIM LEVY - GESHER

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INTERVIEW WITH MK MAXIM LEVY - GESHER

Aaron Lerner 25 July, 1996

IMRA interviewed MK Maxim Levy of the Gesher Party, and the brother
of Foreign Minister David Levy, in Hebrew on 25 July.

IMRA: Are you disappointed that Arafat sent the same letter to
Netanyahu which he sent to Peres? Prime Minister Netanyahu has
expressed his disappointment that the Arafat letter does not
specify which sections of the Palestine Charter are being dropped.

Levy: That's not true. It is not the same text. [Foreign
Minister] David [Levy] is satisfied with the letter.

IMRA: Does the letter specify which passages are being dropped?

Levy: No, not all the passages. But it makes it quite clear that
they are going to make all the necessary changes,

IMRA: Immediately after the meeting, Foreign Minister Levy briefed
reporters that Arafat had agreed to stop the visits of foreign
ministers to Orient House. We interviewed Saa'eb Erekat after the
Levy-Arafat meeting, which he also participated in, and he said
that the visits will continue and that the fact that the French
Foreign Minister wasn't visiting Orient House this time was not a
precedent.

Levy: Maybe he said that, but what did the French Foreign Minister
say?

IMRA: The French Foreign Minister told reporters that he planned
to visit Orient House in the future.

Levy: Look, what happened at the meeting was two things: David
was pleased with the meeting and David expressed his objections to
Palestinian violations. Two committees were formed to review the
situation: A committee of Arafat and David and a committee of
experts.

IMRA: Doesn't it cause Minister Levy a loss of face that he left
the meeting telling reporters that the Orient House visits were no
longer a problem and the Palestinians say the opposite thing?

Levy: Look, there are differences of opinion.

IMRA: Differences of opinion over what was said at the meeting?

Levy: Look, there were things said at the meeting which cannot be
repeated over the telephone.
+++++++++++++

BACKGROUND DOCUMENT: COMPARISON OF ARAFAT LETTERS

The following is a comparison of the letters which were sent by
Yasser Arafat to Prime Minister Shimon Peres and Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu. Changes appear in [brackets]. Besides the
name and date, the only change is the addition of the phrase "and
to your new government".

Mr. Shimon Peres [Mr. Binyamin Netanyahu]
Prime Minister of Israel

Dear Mr. Peres [Netanyahu],

I convey my best wishes to your excellency, [and to your new
government,] and I would like to convey to you the recent historic
resolution adopted by the Palestinian National Council at its 21st
session held in Gaza city.

As part of our commitment to the peace process, and in adhering to
the mutual recognition between the Palestinian Liberation
Organization and the Government of Israel, the P.N.C. was held in
Gaza city between 22-25 of April 1996, and in an extraordinary
session decided that the Palestine National Charter is hereby
amended by canceling the provisions that are contrary to the
letters exchanged between the PL.O. and the government of Israel on
9/10 Sept. 1993.

Please find enclosed copies of the official Arabic and English
texts of the P.N.C's resolutions.

We remain Committed to the peace process.

Gaza: 4/5/1996 [23/7/1996]

Yasser Arafat
Chairman of the Executive Committee
of the Palestine Liberation Organization
President of the Palestinian National Authority

H.E. Shimon Peres [H.E. Binyamin Netanyahu]
Prime Minister of Israel
Tel-Aviv
+++++++

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Associate
IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-904719/Fax 972-9-911645
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