EXCERPTS: STATE DEPT SPOKESMAN ON MIDDLE EAST DEVELOPMENTS
(Fields queries about recent Mideast negotiations) December 26, 2000 State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said the U.S. government is awaiting responses from the Israelis and Palestinians to the ideas exchanged in Washington about restarting peace negotiations. The "parties have taken back ideas to consult with their leaders," Reeker told reporters at the State Department December 26. "We expect to hear from them later this week on whether these ideas are the basis for moving forward." Israeli and Palestinians negotiators met with U.S. officials at Bolling Air Base outside Washington last week to exchange ideas on resuming peace talks. Reeker said both sides showed effort, commitment and openness in the discussions. Following are excerpts pertaining to the Middle East from Reeker's December 26 briefing in Washington: (Begin excerpts) QUESTION: Have there been any contacts between anybody in the Department and people in the Middle East over the last 48 hours? MR. REEKER: I am not aware of any particular contacts, although that doesn't rule out obviously telephone contacts that go on. I don't have a lot to update you from the last reports we had after Saturday's meeting. As you know, last week Dennis Ross and his team met with the Israelis and the Palestinians in peace talks at Bolling Air Force Base here in Washington. They had parallel bilateral meetings, as well as trilateral meetings, direct discussions between the two parties themselves. They had very serious, intensive and constructive discussions. Then on Saturday the parties saw President Clinton, as well as Secretary Albright and others, at the White House for about 30 minutes. Following that meeting, Dennis Ross and his team met with the parties for an additional 45 minutes, and my friend and colleague, Mr. Crowley over at the NSC at the White House, provided a readout of that Saturday afternoon. We could help you get transcripts of that if anyone is interested. I think as Mr. Crowley said in his meeting, the President made some suggestions and offered some ideas to the parties based on what he, the President, and what all of us have been hearing from both teams -- from Camp David, from the talks last week at Bolling. And the parties have taken back ideas to consult with their leaders -- obviously the Israelis with Prime Minister Barak and the Palestinians with Chairman Arafat -- and we expect to hear from them later this week on whether these ideas are the basis for moving forward. Once we hear from them, then we will have a better sense of how we will move forward and what the next steps might be. Q: There is an indication from Arafat that they need further clarification of the Administration's proposals. Exactly what clarification are they seeking? MR. REEKER: I am not aware of any particular request for clarification. That may be something that is involved in any discussions that Ambassador Ross and his team may be having. As I indicated and as Mr. Crowley indicated from the White House Saturday, the President in his meeting presented some suggestions, made some suggestions, offered ideas to the parties, based on what we have heard from the parties going back to Camp David, where we raised serious issues and there was serious discussion, and right through to the discussions that were held at Bolling last week. The leaders now need to have their own consultations at home and get back to us. When we hear their reactions, then we will know how we are going to move forward. Q: What efforts is the U.S. making to build support among Arab countries for whatever deal you hope the two sides are heading towards here, and how critical is that support going to be? MR. REEKER: I think all along we have had discussions on a fairly regular basis with other countries in the region who have obviously been an important part of this. Secretary Albright spoke on some television programs Friday and talked about regular discussions we have with President Mubarak of Egypt, for instance, and with other leaders in the region. I don't have a specific readout for you over the holiday weekend of any additional talks that were going on, but we have a continuous dialogue, obviously, with our friends and allies and countries in the region. Our embassies carry out a lot of that; other times the Secretary may speak directly with leaders. Ambassador Ross is obviously deeply involved. Q: Is that going to be essential here for this process? MR. REEKER: I think the countries in the region have played an important role all along. As the Secretary talked about, for instance, Egypt's role, Jordan's role and others, so we want to keep them apprised as much as we can. And obviously the leaders of the two sides in the region will have their own conversations also with other countries in the region. Q: How much of a yes do you think President Clinton and the U.S. peace team is going to need to hear in order to believe it's worth continuing effort? I think some of what Don was saying is that the Palestinians have been indicating they're not ready to say yes. Clearly they are feeling more like yes, if this were so, yes if that were so. MR. REEKER: I think the bottom line is that we have not heard back from the parties yet. After their meeting at the White House Saturday, the two teams headed back to meet, obviously, with their respective leaders. I have certainly seen plenty of media reports about those leaders discussing things publicly, obviously privately, in terms of reviewing what the President said and where we stand on things. What we need to do is wait for their response, and I am just not going to be able to characterize what that might be until we hear from them. We will wait. We will hear their reactions. This is a very difficult task. We are dealing with all the major issues now. In the end, this is a set of very serious, intensive, constructive things. We have stated before -- and I will say it again -- that we appreciate the effort and commitment and openness put forth by both sides in the process. So we are just going to wait for the comments of the parties and then decide how best to proceed after that. Q: You used three words: effort, commitment and openness. Would you include a willingness to compromise among the things you appreciate? Have you seen one? MR. REEKER: I think what I will do is just stick with what I said, Barry, and that is that we appreciate the serious, intensive, constructive talks that took place last week, and the effort put forth by both sides. What we need to do now is wait and let the two sides get back to us, and then we will see where we are going to go. Q: So if the question were, "Have you seen compromise from both sides or even a willingness to compromise," you won't deal with that? MR. REEKER: I am just not going to get into details or the specifics of the discussion. Q: That's not a detail; it's a description. I'm asking you if you can describe the two sides as willing to compromise. You don't have to, but I'm asking if you -- MR. REEKER: I think the answer -- Q: And you're not willing to. MR. REEKER: -- as you know, Barry, is that we are not going to discuss the details of the discussions or the specific proposals. That would be a description of the discussions, and I am not going to do that. Q: With all due respect, I mean openness -- if openness is okay to say and commitment is okay to say, and it's not descriptive of the details, whether or not there is a mood of compromise would be in the same category. MR. REEKER: Why don't I stick to the words that I am going to use and let you write your own story. Q: Okay, thank you. Q: Are you encouraged by the public comments that Prime Minister Barak has made in the news media just within the last 48 hours? MR. REEKER: Again, I am not going to comment on his public comments. What we are going to do is wait for the response of the two leaders to the President and to our team. Rather than add to that mix, we will just wait and get their response, as we are expecting this week. Q: Well, we're just trying to figure out where all the players are. The Secretary is away on vacation. Will she be back later this week? MR. REEKER: The Secretary is on leave. She is spending the holiday with her family. She is in constant contact, of course, and will be back in the office by next week unless circumstances change. Q: If we could follow up on what Josh was asking about reaching out to the Arab world, one of the criticisms of Camp David was that you didn't -- or the United States didn't adequately seek out the advice of Arab leaders before going into Camp David. Are there any plans for any Administration officials to travel to moderate Arab states over the next few weeks? MR. REEKER: I am not aware of any travel plans at all. Q: One of the things that Barak has said, that I am wondering if the U.S. team is also concerned about, is that he fears some of the other peace treaties may be unraveling, or may be susceptible to unraveling if this doesn't go through and this doesn't move forward -- with the Egyptians, with the Jordanians. Is that something the U.S. team is also concerned about and is taking into consideration in their effort? MR. REEKER: I think our focus all along has been on trying to help wherever we can, as the President and the Secretary have said so many times and we have discussed from here. The United States has pledged to do whatever we can to help this process. It is the parties' process -- the Israelis and the Palestinians -- and they need to take the steps that they can to make the difficult decisions that they need to, to move the process forward. So in terms of this process, that is what we are focused on. Q: It doesn't sound like you're considering it in context, which obviously must be done. MR. REEKER: Again, I think the parties probably consider things in context. I leave that for them to describe. We also look at things obviously in context; everything has its own context. But this is a process that we have worked on very diligently, that we have tried to do whatever we can to help the parties in this process -- which again is their process. The President and Secretary Albright are pledged to do that right through the end of their term, and so that is what we will continue to do. Right now we are at the stage where we are waiting to hear back from the two parties after last week's talks, which of course have built on the whole process that we have discussed for some time. Q: Let me try this again. An end to conflict was the other -- the conflict -- was the other of the two major goals. In the five days of talks, did the U.S. hear any new promises or any new assurances or any new mechanisms to cut back, curb the violence? MR. REEKER: I don't believe, Barry, I have anything to add to what has been said since the end of those talks after what P.J. Crowley had to say Saturday. Obviously the violence is something we have deplored. The cycle of violence needs to end. It doesn't accomplish anything. The solution, the coming to of some sort of an agreement, has to take place through talks and dialogue. What we want to see is a comprehensive agreement to bring peace to the Middle East. So obviously violence is something we want to see ended, but I don't have anything specific to add out of these talks on that front. Q: The politically precarious situation of Prime Minister Barak, as well as President Clinton's imminent departure, does that pose any particular challenge to reaching a comprehensive agreement? MR. REEKER: Again, as I indicated in response to Terri's question President Clinton and Secretary Albright have stated their commitment to doing everything they can to support peace efforts in the Middle East as long as they are in office. I think Secretary Albright said again on Friday that we think there is an historic opportunity here. We are trying to take advantage of the time that is left in this Administration. But that said -- and we have discussed it before -- United States support for Middle East peace is not a partisan issue; it has been a top priority for all American administrations, Democratic and Republican, and I believe will remain so in the future. So our support for the parties and the process will not end on January 20, but we have an important opportunity here. In terms of the first part of your question, we really leave Israeli politics to Israel and others, and we are working with the leadership in Israel. We had a team, as you know, led by the Foreign Minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami, here last week. He has gone back to consult obviously with Prime Minister Barak, and we are just waiting to hear a response from both parties. (End excerpts) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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