Back to Ambassadorial Speeches - Ambassador Zalman Shoval

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.