    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
    [February 12, 1995]
    [Pages 192-193]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Meeting With Middle Eastern Leaders
    February 12, 1995

        Thank you, Mr. Secretary. And thank you, all of you, for coming to
    this very important meeting. It is no secret to anyone in the world that
    we are at a critical moment in the peace process. We cannot allow the
    rise of terror again to threaten this peace, or as Chairman Arafat said
    the other day, we cannot allow it to kill the Palestinian dream.
        We are prepared in this country to redouble our efforts to get the
    peace process back in full gear. We are doing what we can on our own and
    with others to deal with the problem of terror.
        I want to begin by saying a special word of appreciation to
    President Mubarak for the Cairo summit. He has been involved in this
    process all along, and I think that the Cairo summit produced a clear
    statement by the leaders of all of you here represented that we are not
    going to let terror hold sway, that we are not going to let the peace
    process collapse. Today it is for us to begin to take the specific steps
    necessary to have the message of peace and renewed commitment carried
    out.
        I think it's clear that we have to complete phase two of the Israel-
    Palestinian Agreement. I think it's clear that we have to fully
    implement the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel. I think it is
    clear that we have to bring some economic benefits of peace as quickly
    as we possibly can.

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        And the United States is prepared to do its part on that. For
    example, if you agree to establish industrial zones in the West Bank and
    Gaza and elsewhere, I am prepared to go to Congress and seek approval
    for extending duty-free treatment to products coming out of those zones.
    Of course, in the end, the economic and political cooperation among all
    of you will be the most important thing in reaping economic progress.
    But I want to do our part.
        I know our Russian partner feels the same. I think that many others
    around the world will also help. But I am absolutely convinced that we
    need to move as quickly as we can to prove that there are some economic
    benefits to peace.
        Let me say also that, even though we must have enhanced security to
    create enhanced economic benefits, it is obvious that our attempt to do
    that is impaired when the movement of goods is limited by boycott, by
    closure, by any other action. So we're all going to have to work hard to
    make progress on the peace front, on the security front, and on the
    economic front at the same time. And we all have to recognize that there
    are difficult decisions to be made in this area.
        The negotiations that you have already concluded have built a
    framework for peace. What we have to do now is to have specific
    achievements, lasting achievements. We will do our part. We are as
    committed today as we have ever been to a comprehensive peace. I wish
    the representatives of Syria and Lebanon were around this table; they
    are not here only because there has been no peace agreement signed with
    them. But I know you all join me in saying that our work will never be
    completed until we are all around a table as partners working for peace.
        Now, there are many other things I could discuss today, but I mostly
    want to say to you, the United States is still committed to this, more
    strongly than ever. We are ready to do our part. We are ready to do our
    part economically. We are certainly ready to do our part in fighting
    terror. But we all have to do this together. And I hope that this
    meeting will produce further specific steps that we can all take to keep
    doing it together. We cannot let people believe that they can disrupt
    the rational, humane, decent course of history by terror.
        Mr. Secretary.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:30 p.m. at Blair House. The following
    officials and their respective peace delegations attended the meeting:
    Secretary of State Warren Christopher; Foreign Ministers Atef Sedky of
    Egypt, Shimon Peres of Israel, and Abd al-Karim al-Kabariti of Jordan;
    and Nabell Sha'ath, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation
    for the Palestine Authority.