(Urges Israelis, Palestinians to settle differences now) December 29, 2000 President Clinton has urged the Israelis and Palestinians to reach a peace agreement by the time he leaves office on January 20. "I think that if it can be resolved at all, it can be resolved in the next three weeks," Clinton said at a press conference in Washington December 28. "I don't think the circumstances are going to get better. I think, that in all probability, they'll get more difficult." Clinton spoke after a meeting scheduled for December 28 at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt among Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was called off. Asked about the latest bombings in Tel Aviv and Gaza, Clinton responded, "I think that this latest violence only reminds people of what the alternative to peace is." "There are a lot of enemies of peace in the Middle East," he added. Clinton said that "it would be up to the next administration" to propose any official work that he might be asked to do, such as continuing to mediate the Middle East peace process. Following are excerpts of Clinton's press conference pertaining to the Middle East: (Begin excerpts) Q: Mr. President, since last we asked you about the Middle East yesterday, there have been a number of developments. There have been bombings in Tel Aviv, an ambush. Prime Minister Barak did not go to that summit meeting in Egypt. What does that make you think about the prospects for nailing down a final agreement while you're still in office? THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, I condemn the violence. And I believe it is the violence and the bus that prevented the Prime Minister from going to Egypt; I don't think it is a lack of desire to pursue the peace process. Chairman Arafat is consulting with President Mubarak and I believe wants to talk to some of the other Arab leaders. The important thing to note is that Israel has said -- I put some ideas on the table. They go beyond where we were at Camp David; they meet the fundamental needs that both sides expressed at Camp David. And the Israelis said that they would agree to try to close the remaining gaps within the parameters of the ideas I put forward if the Palestinians will agree. And I think that this latest violence only reminds people of what the alternative to peace is. Look, I expect there to be more in the next few days, as long as we're moving toward peace. There are a lot of enemies of peace in the Middle East, and there are a of people that have acquired almost an interest in the preservation of the status quo and the agony of the Israelis and the abject misery of most of the Palestinian population. So I expect that we will have to continue to combat violence. But if we can get a peace which meets the fundamental longstanding desires of both parties, and we start to have common efforts in security that go even beyond what we've had for the last few years, and we start to have common efforts to build an economic future that benefits everyone, we will have more political and economic stability and we'll have a different future. But in the meanwhile, this thing has been going on a long time and a lot of people don't want to give it up. And so they're going to try to disrupt it. But if you just look at the last few months, it's the best argument for going ahead and finishing this. It's not going to get any easier. So this is by far the closest we have ever been. We are much closer than we were at Camp David. But there are still differences and we're just waiting. If the -- the Israelis have said they will meet on these conditions within the parameters that I laid out; if the Palestinians will, and the Palestinians are negotiating -- or talking -- excuse me -- with the other Arabs, and we'll just see what happens. .... Q: Mr. President, back on the Middle East. Two elements seem different now than were present at Camp David. First of all, the outlines of peace proposal are open, and you want* to take a look at them. And second, there seems to be much more of an effort to involve Arab leaders as the negotiations move forward. Those two things were not present at Camp David, yet the Palestinians still are holding back. What do you think is holding them back, and what do you think would push them across the line and move this forward? THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think the -- first of all, I think that while we have talked to all of the Arab leaders, I'm not sure that Mr. Arafat has gotten to talk to enough of them. I think that he believes that -- he has always believed, I thought, that he was representing not only his people, but the larger Arab world, and in some ways the larger Muslim world in the Jerusalem issues. So I think that he's trying to work through that. But I don't think, as I've said repeatedly over the last several years, I think when you're in a period like this -- that is, where we're sort of -- the thing is in gestation and it's either going to go forward or it's not -- I think that the less I say about it, the better. .... Q: Back to the Middle East. Have you given the Palestinians any sort of deadline to give you an answer, or are they going to be given an unlimited amount of time to decide? And also, do you expect them to come here? Do you need to talk to them again before you can see if they are making headway? THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, I think it is obvious we are all operating under a deadline. We're all operating under a deadline; it's just some of us know what our deadline is. What I have said to them is, there is no point in our talking further unless both sides agree to accept the parameters that I've laid out -- not because I am trying to dictate this, but because I have listened to them for months and months and months -- indeed for eight years -- and this is the most difficult of all the issues I've dealt with. If there is a peace agreement here, I'm convinced it's within the four corners I laid out. And then there are still -- they both have legitimately a lot of questions and they ought to ask those questions and get answers to them. But there is no point in even doing that unless we've got a basic framework so we can close. The time has come to close here. And the last several months have shown us this is not going to get any easier and prolonging it is only going to make it worse. So I'm doing my best to facilitate what I think is what they want, which is to try to resolve this. Q: Do you really think you can resolve it in the remaining -- are you really optimistic that you can resolve it in the remaining three weeks? And, if you cannot, would you keep at it after you leave office? THE PRESIDENT: Well, the answer to your first question is I think that if it can be resolved at all, it can be resolved in the next three weeks. I don't think the circumstances are going to get better. I think, in all probability, they'll get more difficult. In terms of what I do when I leave office in the way of official work like that, that will be up to the next administration and any parties there or anywhere else in the world. That would not be for me to say. One of the things I am determined to do when I leave -- I'm going to work until the last day, because I'm drawing a paycheck and I'm going to work to the last day. After that, I'm going to observe strictly what I think is the proper role of a former President. And we will have a new President and he has to make the calls and I will support that entirely. Around the world, I think that's very, very important. So anything I might ever do, indeed, for the whole rest of my life, not just in the first few years I'm out of office, will be determined by what whoever happens to be the President does or doesn't want me to do, and whatever parties in other parts of the world do or don't want me to do. That's just the only appropriate thing and I will rigorously adhere to that. Q: Have both sides asked you to, sir? Have both sides asked you to keep at it? THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn't say that. It depends upon -- I think that it is -- first of all, in this context, I believe that is exceedingly unlikely. That is, I honestly believe, given the pendency of the Israeli election, and the developments within the Palestinian community and the larger Arab world, that the best chance they have to make an agreement is in the next three weeks. Now, none of us who long for peace in the Middle East would ever give up on it. But I think that is both a theoretical question and an unlikely one, because if you look at where the forces are today, they have a better chance to do it now, if they're ever going to do it. It's just -- it's really hard. If it weren't hard, they would have done it before this. I mean, they signed the Oslo Agreement in '93 and put all this stuff off to the end because they knew it was hard, and it's still hard. But if you look at where we've been the last few months, it's not going to get any easier. And I just hope that -- I've said this before, I said it earlier -- we had a confluence of Christmas, Hanukkah and the end of Ramadan and the beginning of the Eid, and maybe there's something in the stars that will give them the divine strength and inspiration to do it. I don't think it's going to get easier. Q: Well, are your terms negotiable, or are they just parameters? THE PRESIDENT: No, they're the parameters. The negotiations, in other words, have to occur within them. Q: So East Jerusalem could be negotiated more? THE PRESIDENT: No. I do not want to talk more about this. They understand exactly what I mean. Both sides know exactly what I mean and they know exactly what they still have to do, and that's enough right now. Thank you. (End excerpts) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) NNNN
|