    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [May 12, 2008]
    [Pages 666-669]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Interview With Jacob Eilon and Gil
    Tamari of Channel 10 TV of Israel
    May 12, 2008

        Q. Mr. President, thank you for speaking with Channel 10.
        The President. Yes, sir.

    Jenna Bush Hager's Wedding

        Q. First of all, congratulations on your daughter's wedding this
    weekend. [Laughter]
        The President. Thank you. It was--as my Jewish friends tell me,
    there was mazel tov. And it was a beautiful experience. It was very
    emotional, and it was--to see your little girl marry a good guy. And Laura and I were thrilled.
        Q. Made you proud?
        The President. Yes, I was very proud of her. It was a wonderful
    time. And we did it on our ranch, which was--we didn't do it here in the
    White House because Jenna wanted a more low-key, kind of homey
    environment. And she loves the ranch, and so do we, so it was perfect.
    It was wonderful. Thanks for asking.
        Q. Great. Now to business.
        The President. Yes. [Laughter]

    Middle East Peace Process

        Q. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert just said a couple days ago
    that he would resign if he was indicted with some new corruption
    charges. Does that change in any way your strategy on the peace process
    in the Middle East?
        The President. No. The vision of the peace process still is the
    same. I have come to the conclusion that it is essential for Israel to
    have a Palestinian partner that is a democracy committed to peace. I
    fully understand not all Palestinians agree with that vision. But I also
    believe, over time, that when confronted with life in Gaza, what that's
    like, or life in a place where you can raise your child in peace, most
    of the Palestinians will choose peace, and that the best way to
    marginalize these radicals who murder the innocent to achieve their
    political objectives is through Palestinian democracy.
        Q. And you can do that with Olmert and Abbas?
        The President. Well, the Prime Minister's--
    as I understand it, the legal issue goes on, and I fully understand that
    and respect Israeli rule of law. I will just tell you, in my--I have
    great relations with the Prime Minister. I find him to be a frank man,
    an honest man, an open man, a guy

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    easy to talk to, and somebody who has--understands the vision necessary
    for Israeli security.
        And so we will continue working hard. And I do believe we can get a
    state defined by the end of my Presidency. A state won't exist until
    certain obligations are met by everybody, but to have it defined is very
    important.

    Middle East Peace Process/Hamas

        Q. So that's the goal? By the end of the year, a defined--what
    borders of a Palestinian state?
        The President. Well, that and refugee issue as well as the other key
    security issues that are necessary for a state to come into being. But
    the roadmap has obligations for all parties. And so my goal is to get
    the state defined.
        Look, I firmly believe that--first of all, I supported the
    Sharon move on Gaza and still think it was the
    right move; and that I supported the elections, because there needs to
    be clarity. Everybody's got to see the truth. And the truth is that
    Hamas can't deliver promised--promises for the Palestinian people. And
    the truth is, is that there's an opportunity now to offer a different
    vision from theirs. Their vision is, destroy Israel. How about a vision
    that says, we want to coexist with Israel so we can raise our children
    in peace?
        Now, they--I'm sure people say, oh, Bush, man, he sounds hopelessly
    idealistic. But the truth of the matter is, in order for peace to
    secure, it's that kind of idealism that has got to prevail.

    Iran

        Q. Mr. President, you have said that the bombing of the Syrian/North
    Korean facility by Israel sent a message to Iran. What was the message?
    You are next?
        The President. No, it's just that people are going to take care of
    their security needs. And the message to Iran is that your desire to
    have a nuclear weapon, coupled with your statements about the
    destruction of our close ally, has made it abundantly clear to everybody
    that we have got to work together to stop you from having a nuclear
    weapon.
        I mean, to me, it's the single biggest threat to peace in the Middle
    East, is the Iranian regime, not only because of their desire to have
    the technologies to build a weapon--the technologies necessary to build
    a weapon, but it's also to--their funding of Hizballah. Look what's
    happening in Lebanon now, a young democracy trying to survive. By the
    way, it's in Israel's interests that the Lebanese democracy survive.
        Q. So what's going to stop them?
        The President. Well, pressure, sanctions, diplomacy, all options on
    the table. They're trying to destabilize the young Iraqi democracy. And
    what stops them there is when we catch them moving their weapons in,
    they're brought to justice. That's what stops them.

    Israel/Iran

        Q. Many Israelis think that the only thing that would stop them
    would be a military attack. Have you considered that?
        The President. I've always told people that all options are on the
    table. I've also learned that in my 7\1/2\ years as President, it's
    probably best not to be talking about the specifics of any option.
        Q. If Israel does that, would you understand?
        The President. You're becoming very hypothetical in your questions.
    I fully understand Israel's concerns about Iran. That's going to be my
    message when I come to Israel, and that is that you need to be concerned
    about Iran, and you are concerned about Iran, and so are we. And part of
    our job is to--you know, look, we want to solve anything--I mean,
    stopping them enriching is--the first choice is to do it diplomatically,
    of course. And that's why we're working on the sanction regime, and
    that's why we're trying to affect their money flows.

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        But it's hard because not everybody shares the same anxiety as
    Israel and the United States does. And--but it's a tough issue, and I
    fully understand it. And I will continue to pressure as best I can.

    Jonathan Pollard Case

        Q. Mr. President, did you get any official request to pardon
    Jonathan Pollard, and if yes, would you consider it? And do you know,
    many people in Israel think that the arrest of Ben-Ami Kadish in another
    spy case tended to influence you?
        The President. We are constantly analyzing cases. There's been no
    change in the Government's attitude at this point.
        Q. So----
        The President. No change.
        Q. What is your--did you get such a request from Israel?
        The President. Oh, yes, constantly.
        Q. Constantly?
        The President. Sure.
        Q. So for our 60th birthday, any new presents?
        The President. We'll analyze every request, but there's been no
    change of attitude.

    Situation in the Middle East/Middle East Peace Process

        Q. Mr. President, it took, like, 7 years before you got involved in
    the Middle East.
        The President. No, but that's not an accurate statement, please.
        Q. Well, it is in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, maybe to be
    more accurate.
        The President. No, that is an inaccurate statement too. But, anyway,
    go ahead. I will let you finish your question.
        Q. Would you recommend the next President to start earlier?
        The President. Look, I inherited--when I came in office, there was
    an intifada. It's hard in the middle of the intifada to be talking
    peace. I mean, you had people scrambling for their security. But I gave
    a speech in June 2002--remember, I was sworn in in 2001--which really
    helped define the two-state solution. It talked about who we would or
    not deal with. I've been--I know, we've been very much engaged in terms
    of setting the conditions. Remember, the roadmap was done during my
    time. Anyway, no, we've been very much involved in the Middle East. It's
    a----
        Q. And should the next President start early?
        The President. Like me?
        Q. You're not the next President.
        The President. No, no, you mean, start it early like I did? Sure,
    yes----
        Q. No. Okay----
        The President. ----you can't help it. Look, this is the--one of the
    accomplishments--or one of the interesting things that's happened in
    this administration is we have placed American foreign policy--a top
    priority of our foreign policy is squarely in the Middle East. We got
    Iraq, we got Lebanon, we got Iran, and of course, we got the Middle
    Eastern--the peace process between the Palestinians and Israelis, which
    frankly is moving down the road pretty good. And I hope during my time,
    before it's over, we get the vision defined. But it's--I think any
    American President is going to be committed to Israel's existence and
    understand the realities and threats in the Middle East.

    President's Upcoming Visit to Israel

        Q. Finally, Mr. President, you are coming to Israel for your second
    visit as President of the United States. What do you expect from this
    visit?
        The President. I expect a chance to speak in the Knesset, which I'm
    excited about, and I'm thankful. And I'm looking forward to telling
    people that I fully understand that--the nature of the world, and that
    there are ideologues who murder innocent people to achieve their
    political objectives. And we must do--we must stand strong against those
    ideologues, and we must, on the one hand, be strong in our security
    measures, and on the other hand, offer a

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    competing vision. And that's what I'm going to talk about.
        It's a hopeful speech. It's an optimistic speech. And it's one that
    I hope assures Israelis that during the Bush administration and the
    subsequent administrations, they'll have a strong friend and ally in the
    United States of America.
        Q. Mr. President, we wish you a pleasant trip to Israel. Thank you
    very much.
        The President. I'm looking forward to it. Thank you, sir.
        Q. Thank you very much for this interview.
        The President. Yes, thanks. Good to see you guys.

    Note: The interview was taped at 11:30 a.m. in the Map Room at the White
    House for later broadcast. In his remarks, the President referred to
    Henry Hager, husband of Jenna Bush Hager; and former Prime Minister
    Ariel Sharon of Israel. The interviewers referred to President Mahmoud
    Abbas of the Palestinian Authority; former civilian U.S. Navy
    intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard, who was convicted of treason and
    espionage in 1987; and former civilian U.S. Army mechanical engineer
    Ben-Ami Kadish, who was arrested on April 22. The transcript was
    released by the Office of the Press Secretary on May 13.