EMBASSY PRESS CONFERENCE WITH AMBASSADOR SHOVAL
                  Washington, D.C. - January 22, 1991


AMBASSADOR SHOVAL: Good evening -- not such a good evening 
unfortunately.  We have had, as you know, another terror attack of Scud 
missiles on the Greater Tel Aviv area, on a purely residential area, as 
we all saw on television.  Unfortunately this time, there seems to have 
been a direct hit on an apartment building which was severely damaged 
and a hit which also created a large-scale material damage to 
surrounding houses in the neighborhood.

We have a number of dead.  The exact number is not yet known.  Probably 
less than five.  We have about 70 injured, wounded, some of them 
severely wounded, most of them not.  But you know, this is always -- if 
you are the one who's injured, you may feel severely injured even if in 
the statistics it appears as less severe.

The Israeli government is going to convene tomorrow morning in order to 
reach decisions pertaining to this recent attack.  As you know, the 
Israeli army spokesman has said yesterday that we expect further 
attacks, and this may not be the last one either.

The Israeli population is behaving magnificently under the stress.  Life 
is getting back to normal.  Businesses in all parts of the country, 
including Tel Aviv, have been open since this morning, Israel time.  
Schools in area, in the central area of the country have not yet opened, 
but they are open in all other parts of the country.

I want to stress once again that this was a terrorist bomb attack on a 
peaceful, civilian population of a country which is not at war with 
Iraq.  This, by the way, constitutes a war crime under international 
law.  And I am proud to say about the Israeli population that it behaves 
rather similar, rather in a similar fashion to the population of London 
at a time of the U-1 and U-2 attacks, which were of a similar nature, of 
no military value whatsoever, purely psychological, purely in order to 
inflict damage and psychological terror.  And the Israeli population 
will stand up to it.

There have been contacts, of course, between the Israeli government, 
especially between the Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
Minister of Defense and Secretary Eagleburger, who, I understand, has 
extended his stay in Israel for the time being.  And, as you know, 
Secretary Eagleburger has been sent to Israel as a special emissary of 
President Bush in order to maintain close contacts with the Israeli 
government.  That's exactly what he's doing.

That's all I have to say at the present time.  And if there are a few 
questions, as (Ruth ?) said, I'll take them.

Q: Does the severity of this attack mean that there will be Israeli 
retaliation sooner rather than later?

AMB. SHOVAL: Well, Israel has never ruled out the possibility of making 
a response to the attacks on her, but I would say that any decision the 
Israeli may or may not take will not necessarily have the character if 
retribution. It's not the matter of an eye for an eye, it's the matter 
of how to act in the best way in order to defend our population and in 
order to prevent further attacks in the future.  What that decision will 
be, I can't say at the present time.

Q: Mr. Ambassador, could you clarify the number of Israelis that have 
been killed in this attack, the number of injured, and if there are any 
Israelis that are trapped in any wreckage in Tel Aviv?

AMB. SHOVAL: Well, I think I did clarify.  I said that there were a 
number of dead.  We don't know the exact number yet.  Probably less than 
five.  There are probably up to 70 injured, some of them severely.  Most 
of them, fortunately not.  And you're quite right in reminding me there 
are quite a few people still caught in the wreckage.  We don't know how 
many.

Q: Mr. Ambassador -- what kind of response could Israel make other than 
a military response.  You seem to suggest that there might be some other 
kind of action the Israelis could take.

AMB. SHOVAL: Well, Israel could undertake several responses of different 
military natures, and I'm not going to go into that, first of all 
because I don't know, and in the second place because if I would I 
wouldn't say.  But --

Q: (Inaudible.)

AMB. SHOVAL: I don't know.

Q: Mr. Ambassador, is there anything the United States can still do to 
reassure you that it hasn't done until now.  Are you satisfied with the 
assurances you've gotten so far with the actions the Americans are 
taking?

AMB. SHOVAL: Well, we are certainly satisfied with what America is doing 
or trying to do, and you should know, as we do, there never is 100 proof 
defense from things like that.  We think the Patriot missiles are a very 
effective piece of armament, a very effective way to defend, but there's 
nothing sure-fire about that, and we don't know at the present time how 
effective the Patriots have been in this specific attack.  But I'm sure 
the Americans are doing their best effort.

Q: Mr. Ambassador, have the Americans urged restraint after this attack, 
and have they given you the IFF code that your planes would need for a 
retaliatory strike?

AMB. SHOVAL: The Americans have not urged any sort of restraint or 
otherwise after this attack.  As I said, there are close contacts 
between the Israeli government and Secretary Eagleburger, who is in 
Israel, and there will be an exchange of views as there has been for a 
long time between the two governments.

Q: Have they given you the Friend or Foe codes that your planes need, 
and has Israel requested this --

AMB. SHOVAL: I can't give an answer on that because the premise which we 
read in the newspaper is not to the best of my knowledge an absolute 
fact.  So I can't -- no, I couldn't comment on that.

Q: Mr. Ambassador, has your government been in touch with the country of 
Jordan, regarding the missiles going through their airspace or the 
potential of your airplanes going across their airspace toward Iraq?

AMB. SHOVAL: I couldn't -- I couldn't say anything about that.  I 
wouldn't know.

Q: Have you been in contact with anyone else in the US government 
besides Mr. Eagleburger?  And do you know if the President's -- 
(inaudible)?

AMB. SHOVAL: To the best of my knowledge, not at the present time, but 
there may have been direct contacts.  To the best of my knowledge, the 
contacts have been through Secretary Eagleburger.
 Q: Mr. Ambassador, after taking into consideration the question of 
retaliation, are you taking into account that remaining cool now and 
abiding with the coalition may help you down the road with moderate Arab 
states?

AMB. SHOVAL: The first duty of any government is to protect its 
citizens.  This goes beyond any other sort of calculation.  If Arab 
states are moderate, they should prove this not only by saying it but by 
also acting this way.  And I'm happy to say that several Arab states, 
members of the coalition, including Syria, have stated very clearly 
these last few days that if Israel were to retaliate on an attack -- to 
an attack perpetuated against it -- perpetrated against it, they would 
not see in that a reason to break their alliance with the United States 
in the present -- in the present coalition.

So -- but as I said before, Israel's decision, if to respond, how to 
respond, when to respond, will certainly include many factors and many 
elements, political as well as military and others, but it's up to the 
Israeli government alone to make that decision as it has, and this has 
been recognized by the United States government.

Q: Does there continue to be dialogue right now between the United 
States and Israeli leaders for making this decision, or -- there are 
some Americans who believe that a decision may have already been made by 
Israel's leaders, and many Israeli leaders who have said in the past 
that they couldn't take much more in Israel and that a decision is about 
to be made.  Can you clarify now if a decision has been made or if there 
--

AMB. SHOVAL: I have stated --

Q: -- continues to be talks between --

AMB. SHOVAL: I have stated the facts as they are.  And I wouldn't go 
beyond that at the present time.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am sorry that I always bring you bad news, but I 
promise you there will come a day I'll bring you good news.  Thank you 
very much.

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