    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2001, Book II)]
    [August 14, 2001]
    [Page 965]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 965]]

    Exchange With Reporters in Rocky Mountain National Park
    August 14, 2001

    Situation in the Middle East

        Q. Mr. President, I've got a Mideast question for you. The Israeli
    tanks moved into a Palestinian city, the furthest incursion yet. Any new
    reaction to that?
        The President. I have no new reaction. My only point is--and I'm
    going to continue to make the point and so is my administration--that
    the cycle of violence has got to end in order for the peace process, or
    any peace process, to begin.
        And therefore, Mr. Arafat must clamp down
    on the suicide bombers and on the violence. And the Israelis must show
    restraint. We've got to break the cycle. In order for there to be any
    discussions about world peace, it requires a willingness of both sides
    to come to the table. And my administration continues to talk to both
    sides, and we will continue to work to try to bring a sense of--a
    desire, a sense of purpose on the partners there in the Middle East to
    sit down and, one, reject the violence and start meaningful discussions
    about how to reach an accord. It's essential that the violence stops.
        Q. Sounds like a strongly held feeling.
        The President. Well, I feel very strongly about it because I'm
    worried about the cycle of violence continuing to escalate. And it's not
    good for our--it's not good for that part of the world, nor is it good
    for the rest of the world, that the Middle East be a place of violence.
        We've been making good progress in Macedonia, it looks like, so that
    part of the world is beginning to calm down a little bit.
        The Middle East is a cauldron of violence, and we've got to--and we
    will continue to be very much involved in insisting that both parties
    break the cycle.

    Note: The exchange began at 1:05 p.m. in the lunch line at a YMCA
    picnic. In his remarks, the President referred to Chairman Yasser Arafat
    of the Palestinian Authority. A tape was not available for verification
    of the content of this exchange.