[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
[September 13, 1993]
[Pages 1480-1482]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Interview With the Israeli News Media on the Middle East Peace Process
September 13, 1993

    Q. Mr. President, thank you for granting this interview to the 
Israeli television. I wanted to ask you first, with your permission, 
after having Mr. Arafat and Prime Minister Rabin shake, reluctantly, 
sort of, each other's hand, did you manage to get them to talk to each 
other?
    The President. Yes, indeed. They talked a little bit before they 
came out and before they had shaken hands. I understand the many decades 
of events which have divided them and the awkwardness of this moment for 
both of them. And I understand, I think, why this is different from the 
agreement reached by Israel and Egypt at Camp David. This was an 
agreement that will require not just the concurrence of two governments 
but tens of thousands of people who will literally be living in close 
proximity to one another. So it was a very challenging moment.
    But before we came out, Mr. Rabin and Mr. Arafat were alone in the 
Blue Room upstairs with me, and we walked down together when everyone 
else had left. And they had not spoken during the time of the reception. 
But they looked at each other really clearly, in the eye, for the first 
time, and the Prime Minister said, ``You know we're going to have to 
work very hard to make this work.'' And Arafat said, ``I know, and I am 
prepared to do my part.'' And they immediately exchanged about three 
sentences, right to business, no pleasantries but went right to 
business. But I thought they were both quite serious.
    And you saw what happened on the stage. They did shake hands. A lot 
of people thought that would never happen. And I thought the fact that 
they did it and that they said what they did, each trying to speak to 
the people represented by the other, was an important gesture.
    Q. How involved, Mr. President, do you plan to get in getting this 
accord off the ground?
    The President. Very involved. I spent about 10 minutes with Mr. 
Arafat today after the occasion and made it clear to him that I was 
prepared to take a the lead in trying to organize the finances necessary 
to carry this through and to try to build the political support for it 
but that it was imperative that he honor the commitments made to 
Israel's security, to denouncing terrorism, to assuming responsibility 
within the areas of self-government for maintaining law and order.
    And then I came over here to the Oval Office and went into my dining 
room and had lunch with the Prime Minister. And we had a good, long talk 
about what the next steps are. And I reaffirmed to him my determination 
to use the influence and the power of the United States and the 
resources of the United States to make sure that the people of Israel 
feel more secure, not less secure, by this agreement. And we talked a 
little about that, and we agreed that we would move immediately to begin 
to implement it.
    Q. Were you disappointed with the contents of Mr. Arafat's speech, 
if I may ask, since many Israelis feel that he did not repeat those 
commitments that he was undertaking in writing. That is, to publicly 
denounce terrorism, say ``no more violence,'' repeat what the late 
President

[[Page 1481]]

Sadat was saying here during the ceremony of Camp David: ``No more war, 
no more bloodshed.'' He was probably the only speaker who didn't say it 
explicitly. It is not the way we wanted to hear him say that.
    The President. Well, he did say the time had come for an end to war 
and bloodshed, but he did not reaffirm the specific commitments he made 
in writing. And yes, I think I would have liked the speech better had he 
done so. But when I listened to it in Arabic, it seemed to be delivered 
with great conviction and passion, more than the translation would 
imply. And I think you have to have a certain discount factor really for 
both of the speeches because of the ambivalence of the supporters of 
both men about this agreement. I mean, Arafat, after all, did not get a 
unanimous vote in his council for this agreement. You know, what he was 
trying to do is to reach out to the Israeli people to establish his good 
faith without further weakening his position.
    And by the same token, I think the Prime Minister did a terrific job 
of reaffirming to the Israeli people how difficult this was for him, how 
strongly committed he is to the welfare of the people of Israel and why, 
that he is doing this because he thinks it's better for them.
    I wasn't perhaps as disappointed as you were, because I thought it 
was so important that Arafat came and spoke directly to the people of 
Israel, reaffirmed in general the commitments he had made, looked at me 
and thanked the United States in ways that he--I mean, he has to know, 
because I've made it so clear publicly and privately, that the United 
States is committed to the security of Israel and that therefore if he 
wants us to help him, he's going to have to honor every last one of the 
commitments he made, which in private again today I asked him to do, and 
he reaffirmed that he would.
    Q. Do you feel, Mr. President, that in view of the new circumstances 
in the Middle East, the American commitment to Israel's security will 
have to take a different shape, other forms?
    The President. Well, I think we may have to do some more different 
things. We may wind up doing more in terms of economic development; we 
may wind up doing more in terms of shared technology. I think we've 
agreed already, the Prime Minister and I have, in our previous meeting 
that we want to do some more joint strategic thinking just to recognize 
the fact that military technology itself has changed the dimensions of 
what Israel has to do to protect its security. But I would leave it with 
you this way: I have no intention of doing anything on my own which 
would in any way raise the question in the mind of any citizen of Israel 
that the United States is weakening in support for the security of 
Israel. The only way we can make this work is if every day more and more 
and more Israelis believe that they will be more secure if there is a 
just peace. That's why I went out of my way not to try to impose terms 
in these negotiations but only to create the conditions and the process 
and the environment within which agreement could be made and why I have 
constantly, since it was announced, reaffirmed my commitment to the 
security of Israel.
    Q. In a conversation with Mr. Arafat last night, he was asking me--
he doesn't need me as an intermediary, of course--to ask you on this 
interview today whether the United States would be willing to help the 
Palestinians create those institutions and establish this police force 
which----
    The President. Absolutely. Absolutely, I would be willing to help 
him do that. And I think that is very much in Israel's interest. And my 
clear impression from the Prime Minister and from the Foreign Minister 
and from our contacts back and forth is that that's what you want me to 
do, that's what Israel wants me to do.
    There are all kinds of practical questions left unanswered by this 
agreement. This agreement has very specific commitments on Israel's 
security and sovereignty and right to exist, on denouncing terrorism, on 
the Palestinians being willing to assume responsibility for conduct 
within the areas of self-governance. But it doesn't say how is a police 
force going to be set up, funded, and trained. How are elections going 
to actually be conducted? How will the candidates be able to get out and 
campaign? All these things have not been worked out. These are areas 
where the United States can genuinely help the process to work.
    Q. Is there any change in the U.S. position on the establishment of 
a mini-Palestinian independent state at the end of the road?
    The President. No. Our position on that has not changed. That is 
something that the parties are going to have to discuss and agree to. 
The United States is not going to change its position. That is something 
to be left to the parties to make and discuss.

[[Page 1482]]

    Q. Mr. Arafat was speaking last night about his wish to have some 
form of confederacy with Jordan. Mr. President, will the United States 
support moves in this direction, linking up whatever Palestinian entity 
will finally emerge into--West Bank and Gaza with the national kingdom 
of Jordan?
    The President. Well again, let me say the first step there is for 
Israel and Jordan to make peace and to reach an agreement. And I think a 
general agreement is forthcoming very soon. Then the three of them can 
get together, and they can discuss those things, and we'll see whether 
there is agreement among the parties to the peace process. If all the 
parties agreed, then the United States would be supportive. We want to 
facilitate the debate. We want ideas to remain on the table. But we 
don't want to impose a settlement of any kind. And so we'll just see 
what happens.
    Q. The agreement between Israel and the Palestinians was reached 
through Norway, as an honest broker, mediator. We could not hope, I 
believe, to arrive at any conclusion of our negotiations with Syria 
without your administration playing a major role in bringing the two 
sides together. Do you think the time is right now to embark upon a 
similar effort in getting the Israelis and the Syrians together?
    The President. I think we have to keep the talks going, but I think 
first we need to focus on implementing this agreement. And if you look 
at what happened in Norway--I mean, I think it was quite important. But 
if you go back and look at how it fit with the talks going on here in 
Washington, the question of the relationship of Israel to the PLO is 
such a volatile one that I doubt seriously that this agreement ever 
could have been made in Washington with anybody's involvement because of 
the intense publicity surrounding everything that happens here.
    The thing that Norway did that was so important was to provide a 
representative of Israel and a representative of the PLO a chance to 
talk over an extended period of time in absolute secrecy so that they 
were free to say things to one another and to explore ideas without 
having to read about it in the paper the next day. And I think it was 
very important.
    Our job during this time was to keep this process going, not to let 
the deportation crisis and the crisis occasioned by the raids in the 
Bekaa Valley or anything else derail this. And I was pleased with the 
agreement which came out which was very like the original principles the 
United States put on the table and that it included the Gaza-Jericho 
resolution which we were very pleased by.
    Q. Finally, Mr. President, there are probably five million Israelis 
watching us now and five million Palestinians and who knows how many 
other Arabs across the border, whatever you would like to tell them on 
this day.
    The President. I would like to tell them that this is a great day 
for the Israelis, for the Palestinians, for the Middle East, but it must 
be followed up. We must make good the promises of this agreement. And 
the United States has a terrific responsibility first to make Israel 
feel secure in making peace; second, to help the Palestinians to set up 
the mechanisms of self-government and of growth, of economic 
opportunity; and third, to keep the overall peace process going. And I 
intend to meet my responsibility. But in the end, whether it succeeds 
depends upon what is in the minds and the hearts of the people who live 
in the area.
    I believe with all my heart that the time has come to change the 
relationships of the Middle East and that the future is so much brighter 
if we can abandon the polarization, the hatred, not just the war but the 
constant state of siege which prohibits and prevents both the Israelis 
and the Arabs from having anything resembling a normal life. I think the 
Middle East can bloom again. It can be a garden of the world if we can 
put aside these hatreds. And I'm going to do what I can to help.

Note: The interview began at 3:45 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. A tape was not available for verification of the content of this 
interview.