The Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Alfred Nzo said today that the South African Government welcomed the election of Mr Ehud Barak, leader of Israel's Labour Party as the new Prime Minister of Israel. "We congratulate him on an historic victory."
Minister Nzo said that Mr Barak's overwhelming win confirmed a perception widely held by the international community that a large majority of the Israeli people seek a speedy and serious resumption of the Middle East Peace Process. "The fact that Prime Minister-elect Barak's party had endorsed the establishment of a Palestinian State and that Mr Barak had committed himself to achieving a speedy withdrawal of Israel's armed forces from Lebanon, even prior to these elections, demonstrated this point even further" he said. He pointed out however, that the past three years of outgoing Prime Minister Netanyahu's leadership had brought about a situation where the Middle East Peace Process had been undermined and trust between the key players in the region had been eroded to worryingly low levels.
This would present Mr Barak with a significant challenge as soon as he took office. His response to this challenge, would be a determining factor in Israel again achieving the high international standing which the leadership of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and former Prime Minister Shimon Peres had brought after signing of the Oslo Accords.
DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
PRETORIA
18 MAY 1999