Text: Secret Rabin Letter to Peres - Call Off Oslo

Aaron Lerner Date: 17 September 2003

The following is IMRA's translation of the text of a letter written by Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin to FM Shimon Peres on 7 June 1993, 3 months before
the announcement of the Oslo agreement, as published in Maariv on 12
September 2003 in an article by Noam Amit "Always Guilty":

7 June 1993

Top Secret

To: Foreign Minister Shimon Peres

Re: Oslo Contacts

Further to our conversation on this matter on Sunday, 6.6.93, I wish to
repeat the main points of what I said. The contacts termed "Oslo contacts"
under the current circumstances constitute a danger to the continuation of
peace talks . . . [the dots in the original article]

First they give an opportunity to the Tunis people to bypass the talks in
Washington and weaken the positive element of the Palestinian delegation -
the residents of the territories. The Tunis people are the extremist
element among Palestinians interested in the peace process and they prevent
the more moderate elements from advancing the negotiations with us. This
gained clear expression in the ninth (last) round of negotiations.
Moreover, they prevent members of the Palestinian delegation from talking
with the Diplomatic Section in Washington.

It can very well be that the Tunis people intend to foil any chance of
reaching substantive negotiations in Washington and force us to talk only
with them, and then the negotiations with the Syrians, Lebanese and
Jordanians is expected to be endangered.. . [the dots in the original
article]

I ask you to halt the contacts until this is clarified again.

+++

The article notes that this clarification process took a week and that Peres
then succeeded in convincing Rabin to allow the talks to continue.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
pager 03-6106666 subscriber 4811
Website: http://www.imra.org.il