[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.