[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book II)]
[December 14, 1998]
[Pages 2172-2173]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With Chairman Yasser Arafat 
of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza City, Gaza
December 14, 1998

Impeachment

    Q. Mr. President, you say you haven't committed perjury. Can you 
say, sir, that you lied, as some people believe would help?
    President Clinton. Sam [Sam Donaldson, ABC News], I've said what I 
have to say about that. Now, I'm here furthering America's interests, 
trying to make peace in the Middle East, to keep this peace process on 
track. I think it's important. I will say what I've said before: I don't 
believe it's in the interest of the United States or the American people 
to go through this impeachment process with a trial in the Senate. 
That's why I have offered to make every effort to make any reasonable 
compromise with the Congress. I still believe that, and I'm still 
willing to do that. That's all I know to do. Meanwhile, I'm going to 
keep working on my job.
    Q. Do you think it's appropriate for the Republican leadership to 
call for your resignation while you are over here, overseas?
    Q. President Clinton, how do you feel being in Gaza?
    President Clinton. The boundaries of what's appropriate have been 
changed rather dramatically in the last several months, I think; you 
know, they'll have to be the judge of their own conduct. I'm just going 
to do my job as President.

President's Visit to Gaza

    Q. President Clinton, how do you feel being in Gaza for the first 
time? And is there going to be a withdrawal on Friday?
    President Clinton. Well, I want to talk to Chairman Arafat about all 
these issues related to the Wye agreement. But I'm delighted to be in 
Gaza for the first time. I'm delighted to be the first President to come 
on Palestinian territory. And I was very pleased to be at the dedication 
of the airport today. One of the important achievements of the Wye River 
agreement was the commitment to get this airport open and going, and I'm 
very, very pleased. It's quite beautiful. And I was pleased to be there, 
and I'm very glad to be here in Chairman

[[Page 2173]]

Arafat's headquarters, with his team. And we'll talk about all the other 
issues.
    Q. And the withdrawal?
    President Clinton. I'll have more to say about that later.

Implementation of the Wye Agreement

    Q. Mr. President--[inaudible]--to be time--[inaudible]--on the 
implementation of the Wye agreement, as Israel has said to be asking?
    President Clinton. Well, I would hope that we would continue to 
implement the Wye agreement on both sides. I would hope both sides would 
continue to implement every part of it. And I think it's important that 
both sides implement every part of it in good faith.
    Keep in mind, Wye is not the end of this process. It's simply a 
means to an end. We also have to get the final status talks going and 
then get into them in earnest. But these confidence-building measures, 
which will enable the Palestinians not only to have an airport but to 
have more freedom of movement, more land, and more economic opportunity, 
and enable the Israelis to have a greater assurance of security 
cooperation, I think they're very important to the success of final 
status talks. So I'm committed to this agreement, and I hope that it 
will be implemented in a timely and aggressive manner by both sides.
    Chairman Arafat. We consider the visit of President Clinton as a 
historic event for the Palestinian people and for the people in the 
Middle East. And we are grateful for his visit, and he honored us with 
this visit today.
    We should never forget that under President Clinton's sponsorship, 
we signed a number of peace agreements at the White House. And through 
President Clinton, peace will prevail in the Middle East. And this is 
something that will not be forgotten by the Palestinian people or the 
Israeli people or the people in the Middle East. And once again, it is a 
great honor, and we are really proud to have President Clinton among us 
here and among the Palestinian people.
    I was hoping that logistically we would have been able to have a 
motorcade, because people are lined up waiting to greet President 
Clinton on both sides of the road. And I believe perhaps you took a 
glimpse of the people, flying in the chopper over Gaza, standing on both 
sides hoping that the motorcade would come by--from the airport, from 
the airport. [Laughter]
    President Clinton. I would like to say just one other thing. There 
are two historic elements to this day. One is the opportunity that I 
have been given simply to come here and to have this meeting and to be a 
part of the airport dedication. The other is the truly historic meeting 
that the Chairman has convened of the PNC, the PCC, and the other 
Palestinian groups, and the opportunity that the Palestinian people, 
through their elected representatives, will have to make it clear and 
unequivocal that they are choosing the path of peace and partnership 
with Israel, and that we hope--I think all of us hope--that this will 
lead to a changing of hearts and minds throughout this region among all 
parties, so that it will be easier for everyone to implement the 
difficult commitments they have made at Wye and will have to make to get 
the final status talks completed.
    This is a truly significant thing, and I, for one, very much 
appreciate it. It was a part of the Wye River agreements; it showed a 
lot of courage on Chairman Arafat's part; and I was delighted to be 
invited here. And so I just want to say how much I personally appreciate 
this and how much I think it will mean over the long run to the 
prospects for a successful peace agreement.

Note: The exchange began at 12 noon in Chairman Arafat's office. In his 
remarks, the President referred to the Palestine National Council (PNC) 
and the Palestinian Central Council (PCC). A tape was not available for 
verification of the content of this exchange.