    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [October 25, 1995]
    [Pages 1680-1681]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a United Jewish Appeal Reception
    October 25, 1995

        Thank you very much, Stan Chesley. Thank you for your friendship and
    for your leadership. Mr. Secretary, thank you for what you have done,
    along with Dennis Ross and so many others here to hasten the day of
    peace in the Middle East. Senator Lautenberg, distinguished foreign
    guests, my fellow Americans, and most of all, to Prime Minister and Mrs.
    Rabin and all the friends who are here from Israel, we're delighted to
    have you back.
        It is a great honor for me to receive this award, an honor amplified
    by its association with the United Jewish Appeal and with all of you who
    contribute so much to the UJA and its mission. But it's a special honor
    to receive it from the Prime Minister.
        As the journey toward Middle East peace advances, the courageous
    leadership and vision of the Prime Minister will become more clear to
    all the world, and they will serve not only the people of Israel but all
    people in our generation and those who will inherit the Earth.
        This is a time of remarkable progress for peace. You heard the
    Secretary talk about what we hope and pray will happen when the parties
    to the war in Bosnia meet in the next few days. We have seen a
    remarkable transformation in South Africa. In Northern Ireland they have
    laid down their arms, and we are working and hoping and praying for
    peace there. But nowhere has the progress been more dramatic and nowhere
    has it moved more people than in the Middle East.
        We have tried to be a full and reliable partner. I am proud of the
    agreements that we have worked hard to bring about. I am proud of the
    handshakes that sealed them, handshakes I never thought I would live to
    see. I'm not sure he did either. [Laughter] I am proud of our efforts to
    secure the economic underpinnings of the peace.
        We will continue to stand with the peacemakers. But let's be clear
    on one thing here: The real credit belongs to them. Could we have made
    peace in the Middle East had Israel not had a Prime Minister like the
    one who stands before us? He and the members of his government, but most
    of all, the Prime Minister, a man willing to risk his own political
    fortunes, a man who for decades had risked his own life to secure the
    life and the future of Israel. Could we have made it had it not been for
    King Hussein and had Chairman Arafat not determined that he would take a
    different course, if President Mubarak had not been supportive? Could we
    have made it if people who have already reached their mature years had
    not looked into the eyes of the young people of the Middle East, like
    the Israeli and Arab children who participated in the Seeds of Peace
    program?

    [[Page 1681]]

    Can we make it stick without the Jewish and Arab-American business
    leaders who have pledged their personal efforts to bring the rewards of
    peace to all the people of the Middle East, without others in the region
    who are now supporting it?
        These are the people to whom the credit goes. It is the
    responsibility of the United States, at this moment in history, to do
    what we, and only we can do to try to be a force for freedom, for
    prosperity, and for peace.
        Each of us still has work to do, as I'm sure you all know. It takes
    many backs to bear the burden of peace and the awful burden of change,
    many hearts to conquer hatred with humanity, many hands to build a
    sturdy house within which all can live on honorable terms. No one can
    sit on the sidelines. This work is not done.
        The United States will remain a force for peace. We will continue to
    support those who take risks for peace, and yes, we will continue to do
    everything we can to minimize those risks. We will continue also and we
    will intensify our efforts to fight the forces of terror who would turn
    back the march of history. And we will continue to defend human rights
    and human dignity for all the people on this planet.
        The road ahead will not be easy, and it will not be even. But we
    must remain steadfast, remembering with Isaiah that those who do the
    Lord's work will have their strength renewed. I believe they will mount
    up with wings as eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will
    walk and not faint.
        The United Jewish Appeal and all the committed donors who gather
    tonight give life to Isaiah's admonition. And in the United States and
    Israel and throughout the world, you renew our strength. In more than 50
    countries you bring hope and relief to the needy. I thank you for
    everything you do, for the hot meals for the homebound, the wheelchairs
    for the disabled, the shelter for the refugees, the comfort to the
    victims of Alzheimer's and AIDS, protecting the weakest among us, the
    newborn, the aged, the frail. To those who have lost their jobs, their
    homes, their way, or their strength, you have been their strength and a
    second chance.
        I think it's fair to say that all of us who believe that we are
    loved and cared for by one God, no matter how imperfect we are, know
    that our God is a God of second chances. That is what the movement for
    peace in the Middle East is all about.
        I thank you for reminding all of us of that and of our obligations
    to each other in one community. I thank you for what you've done to
    strengthen families and improve education, to honor traditions and
    celebrate culture, to embody the values that make this country a great
    nation.
        I thank you for this award. But let me say, more important than
    anything else, I look forward to our continued partnership as we
    struggle on behalf of peace and dignity and humanity. I leave here
    honored and doubly burdened by the instruction of the prophet Isaiah,
    ``Cease to do evil; learn to do well. Prepare ye the way of the Lord.''
    With God's will, that is exactly what we will do together.
        Thank you.
        I could tell you an interesting little aside here. When we were
    about to come out tonight, the Prime Minister insisted that I stand on
    his right, even though he's in the United States. In the American State
    Department, I am his host. Protocol dictates that he stand on my right.
    I told him that. [Laughter] He said, ``Tonight we reverse the order.''
    [Laughter] Then I looked at all of you, and I looked back at him, and I
    said, ``Well, it's appropriate; after all, they may be more your crowd
    than mine.'' [Laughter]
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 7:30 p.m. in the Benjamin Franklin Room at
    the State Department. In his remarks, he referred to Stanley M. Chesley,
    cochairman, International Leadership Reunion; Secretary of State Warren
    Christopher; Dennis B. Ross, Special Middle East Coordinator; Prime
    Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and his wife, Leah; King Hussein of
    Jordan; Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Authority; and
    President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.