    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [March 3, 1997]
    [Pages 227-228]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Prior to Discussions With Chairman Yasser Arafat of the
    Palestinian Authority and an Exchange With Reporters
    March 3, 1997

        President Clinton. Good morning. I'm glad to welcome Chairman Arafat
    here. This is our sixth meeting, and I'm hopeful that it will be as
    productive as our previous ones have. You will remember the last time he
    was here, last fall, we were facing a very difficult situation with
    regard to Hebron, and because of the efforts that he made in working
    with the Israelis, an agreement was reached, a timetable was
    established, and we're moving forward. And I'm hopeful that we can keep
    doing that. This is also a difficult moment, but I think we can work
    through it and go forward, and I appreciate his coming to see me.

    Middle East Peace Process

        Q. Mr. Chairman, are the new settlements designed by the Israelis to
    make the annexation a fait accompli of East Jerusalem?
        Chairman Arafat. Not only for Jerusalem but also for Bethlehem,
    because their target is to squeeze and to isolate Jerusalem but, at the
    same time, to build the settlements at the entrance of Bethlehem, to
    replace Har Homa, our capital--in the city of Bethlehem during the 2,000
    years of our celebration for our Jesus Christ.
        Q. What are you going to do about it?
        Chairman Arafat. I am sure that His Excellency will push for--to
    prevent it.
        Q. Mr. President, what do you think about the settlement?
        President Clinton. Well, what I think about the settlement is what I
    think about all these issues. You know, the important thing is for these
    people on both sides to be building confidence and working together. And
    so I would prefer the decision not have been made, because I don't think
    it builds confidence, I think it builds mistrust. And I wish that it had
    not been made.
        Q. Mr. President, the Jerusalem Embassy Act declares that the United
    States should recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Is Jerusalem
    Israel's capital, and does Israel have the right to build within the
    municipal boundaries of Jerusalem?
        President Clinton. Well, you know, I've been asked that question a
    lot, and I'm going to give you the same answer I always give. I do not
    believe, now that the parties have reached the agreement they reached in
    1993 and they have made this the final status issue, that the United
    States can serve any useful purpose by saying, or especially by doing,
    anything which seems to prejudge what should be a final status issue
    between the parties. I think that would be a big mistake.

    1996 Campaign Financing

        Q. Vice President Gore, did you solicit money in the White House,
    Mr. Gore, during the campaign?
        Vice President Gore. I'll talk with you all later, not during this.
        President Clinton. Nice tie, Ron [Ron Fournier, Associated Press].
        Q. Thank you. Got that in Arkansas.

    Storms in Arkansas

        Q. Do you want to say anything about the storms?
        Q. Are you going to Arkansas?
        President Clinton. I'm going down tomorrow. I'm very concerned about
    it. I talked over the weekend to--I talked to the Governor twice and the
    mayor of Little Rock and Representative Malone in Arkadelphia. You know,
    it's a bad situation. More people were killed in 18 hours than in the 12
    years I was Governor, I believe, combined, in the tornadoes.
        Q. Did you know anybody that was hurt or killed?
        President Clinton. Not to my knowledge, although I did recognize a
    couple of people on television last night who had lost their homes. One
    man said--did you see that--where he had given away a couch to the
    Goodwill Industries, and whoever got the couch had their home destroyed
    and the couch was blown back into his house. [Laughter]
        Q. You're going down----
        President Clinton. I recognized three or four people on television.
    But I'm going down there. I'll see tomorrow.

    Chelsea Clinton's Birthday

        Q. You had a good birthday celebration?

    [[Page 228]]

        President Clinton. Wonderful. Chelsea had a good birthday. New York
    was good.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:12 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas;
    Mayor Jim Dailey of Little Rock, AR; and State Representative Percy
    Malone. A tape was not available for verification of the content of
    these remarks.