[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 39 (Monday, October 2, 1995)]
[Pages 1728-1729]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With Chairman Yasser Arafat 
of the Palestine Liberation Organization

September 28, 1995

Middle East Peace Process

    Q. Mr. Chairman, do you think this will lead to a Palestinian state, 
this signing today?
    Chairman Arafat. The most important thing, it will lead to a 
permanent and just solution and peace in the Middle East.
    Q. But will it lead to a Palestinian state? You want a Palestinian 
state, you want a capital in Jerusalem. Is this a step in that 
direction?
    Chairman Arafat. And we have expressed our--from the first day, we 
were talking with the Israelis, even during the Sadat period, when he 
was making his invitation with Mr. Begin.
    Q. Mr. Chairman, are you worried about another outbreak of terrorism 
in the wake of this agreement, as there have been in the past? Are you 
worried about another outbreak of terrorism?
    Chairman Arafat. Look, there are many enemies against this, the 
peace process. And for this, we call it ``the peace of the braves.'' And 
we are in need of all our efforts and this extensive help to overcome 
all of these obstacles, including the terror and the oppositions on the 
two sides.
    Q. Have you solved all the problems with the Israelis, particularly 
the date for a military pullout from----
    Chairman Arafat. Yes, the last one has been informed to us from Mr. 
Dennis on the phone. And there is--there was a contact with Abu Alaa 
when we were in the meeting with His Excellency, Prime Minister Major, 
which were the most important points which had been changed----
    Q. But all the issues have been solved?
    Chairman Arafat. Yes.
    Q. ----including the--[inaudible]----
    Chairman Arafat. There is now--there is now a committee to finalize 
the whole situation.
    Q. Mr. President, what is the U.S. policy on a Palestinian state? 
What is the U.S. policy, currently? What is the U.S. policy?
    Q. President Clinton, could you maybe tell us how you defined the 
U.S. role in today's events and what transpired here?
    The President. Well, we've continued to work to try to help the 
parties make peace and to help them reach their own agreements. And that 
is what they have done in good faith and with very difficult 
negotiations. And now that they have taken this other important step, as 
they take successive steps, we will try to make sure each step succeeds, 
that we build on it and we keep working until we have a just and 
comprehensive peace in the Middle East.
    And I am very proud of the work that the Secretary of State has 
done, that Dennis Ross has done, and that the others involved in our 
team have done. But the credit here, the ultimate credit, belongs to the 
parties, to the Palestinians and the Israelis, who have been working 
through this in a very difficult way. We have said that our job was to 
support the peace process and to help make sure it succeeds once an 
agreement is reached. This is another important agreement. We'll do our 
best to make sure it succeeds.

[At this point, one group of reporters left the room, and another group 
entered.]

    Q. Mr. President, do you think after this signing ceremony that you 
will be going to the Middle East and visit these peripheries, the 
Palestinian periphery, the Israeli periphery, the Egyptian periphery, 
and the Jordanian periphery, as well as Syria and Lebanon?

[[Page 1729]]

    The President. I don't know the answer to that, but I know we will 
do everything we can to make sure these signing ceremonies are 
successful. We have worked very hard, the United States has, with your 
leaders, with the Israelis, with others, to try to help make peace in 
the Middle East and to try to help make sure each step along the way is 
successful. And we will keep working until we finish the job.

[At this point, a question was asked in Arabic, and no translation was 
provided.]

    Chairman Arafat. According to the agreement, they will be released, 
all--[inaudible]--on three schedules. The first one, directly after the 
signing of this agreement here, under his extensive supervision and 
after that, before the election. And the third one, later on.

[A question was asked in Arabic, and no translation was provided.]

    Chairman Arafat. The most important thing is we work together for 
the new history in the Middle East on the platform of comprehensive, 
lasting peaceful solution in the whole--[inaudible]--not only with the 
Egyptians, not only with the Palestinians, not only with the Jordanians. 
And also we hope that it will continue to be with the Syrians and with 
the Lebanese, too.

Note: The exchange began at 8:45 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In the exchange, the following persons were referred to: Dennis 
Ross, Special Middle East Coordinator; Abu Alaa (Ahmed Qurei), chief 
Palestinian negotiator; and Prime Minister John Major of the United 
Kingdom. A tape was not available for verification of the content of 
this exchange.