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| For Immediate Release | April 12, 2002 |
Press Availability With U.S. Secretary Of State Colin L. Powell
And Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres
Foreign Ministry
Jerusalem
April 12, 2002
FOREIGN MINISTER PERES: Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to welcome the Secretary of State, Mr. Colin Powell, a great statesman, a dear friend. He's really coming at the most trying and delicate period of time in our region. The difference between a complete success and a great failure is so thin that you need a real orientation and determination to handle it. I can hardly recall a visit of a Secretary of State where so many hopes of so many people were accompanying his mission here, knowing that this is a real demanding and complicated issue. I don't take it lightly. I don't think that we have easy answers, but neither do I take it in a pessimistic view. It's difficult, but not impossible. We feel, as Israelis, that it is our duty to make the mission of the Secretary of State, together with the declaration of President Bush, an introduction to a different sort of relations between us and the Palestinians, and for a different vision for the Middle East.
We have started our discussions, there are many ideas. There are still many questions. But we want to handle it in the most constructive and positive manner. Mr. Secretary, we welcome you here fullheartedly.
SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much, Mr. Minister. It is a great pleasure to be back in Israel, and I've enjoyed the two conversations we've had already. I believe both of those conversations have been productive, and as you all know, I had a long and productive conversation with the Prime Minister earlier this morning, and will be having additional conversations with the Prime Minister in the course of my visit. I am here to listen, I am here to learn, but I am also here to convey President Bush's position and American thinking with respect to how to move forward through this crisis.
I will be leaving here to visit with the Minister of Defense, and tomorrow I will meet with Chairman Arafat. I hope as a result of all these conversations, I can then meet again with the Prime Minister to discuss the best way to go forward, not only with respect to security issues, but with respect to political issues and how to get back into negotiations. And so I think my mission here is off to a good start, with "a candid exchange of views" as they say in diplomatic language, and I look forward to many more such exchanges. Thank you very much Mr. Minister.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, if you think you will be successful and we will get a cease-fire as Yasser Arafat declared nine times before and unfortunately never kept his word. What makes you think that this time he will keep his word and if he will not, for this time are there any sanctions you are going to enforce on him?
And Foreign Minister Peres, I would like to ask you in Hebrew please, (in Hebrew) Do the Americans specifically demand that you remove the isolation from Arafat? What is your position on this issue, after this move has probably failed?
SECRETARY POWELL: I'm not interested just in declarations, I am interested in performance and action. In my conversations with Chairman Arafat I will make that clear. What is important now is not just rhetoric going out into the air with no effect, but action - action that will bring this violence under control. Action that will give a feeling of hope to the people of the region. And that will be my message to Chairman Arafat, and we will see what his reaction is. This is just the beginning of a mission. We have, as I said, had good discussions, laid out positions held by Israel, positions held by President Bush, and the American government, and these discussions will continue.
I am anxious to see a security track get started again, and I also recognize that the security track isn't enough, in and of itself. There must be a movement to political discussions and a negotiation.
FOREIGN MINISTER PERES: (in Hebrew) The question about the condition of Arafat and the prisoners he is holding was discussed, but there was no specific American demand. It was in the context of a discussion, not in the context of a demand and an answer.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, judging by your remarks earlier, Prime Minister Sharon so far has shunned your request for a timeline to end the incursion and for progress on the political side. The only political progress is (inaudible) it's on the Mitchell process which Prime Minister Sharon has been (inaudible) for months? Did you make any progress at all this morning, and if so, what was it?
SECRETARY POWELL: We talked about a number of things this morning, and I think we have made some progress, but because it is a continuing series of discussions, I don't want to give an hour by hour description. The Prime Minister and I took note of the declaration that came out of the Arab summit. I shared some additional thoughts with him that go beyond Mitchell, and I think, in due course, we'll have further discussions and see where we are heading in the future.
Remember, we just arrived. Conversations have just begun, and I am prepared to stay here for as long as is necessary in order to make sure we have some progress as a result of this mission. Thank you.
FOREIGN MINISTER PERES: May I add one point to your question. We are not interested to remain in the areas for any length of time. We are as anxious as anybody else to complete the mission and leave the place. Initially, we were talking about four weeks, two weeks have already passed. I believe most, in many places, most of the mission was accomplished, or are on the verge of being accomplished, so we are not talking about months, we are not talking about years, we are talking about a week or something a little bit more than that, and what the Prime Minister has said wasn't about dates, but about the mission. He said the mission should be completed, but he didn't mention any dates that exceed the initial idea.