[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 10 (Monday, March 11, 1996)]
[Pages 424-425]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Memorial Service at the Embassy of Israel

March 5, 1996

    Thank you, Mr. Ambassador. Rabbi Simon, Mr. Krauser, Cantor Tasat; 
to my fellow Americans and all the people of Israel: The American people 
join in this time of grieving and loss. We mourn Israel's loss--we mourn 
Israel's terrible loss, and we share your outrage. We stand with you in 
your determination to bring this terror to an end and to bring to 
justice those responsible for the senseless violence that has afflicted 
the land of Israel and taken the lives of innocent people.
    In moments such as these our anguish challenges our spirit. 
Daughters and sons, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, mothers 
and fathers, friends murdered--murdered solely for the blood running 
through their veins, solely because of where they live, solely because 
they wish to live in peace and harmony.
    Our faith may be shaken, but at times like this it is all the more 
important to persevere. These fanatical acts were not aimed simply at 
killing innocent people, they were clearly aimed at killing the promise 
of peace. Those responsible thrive on division and conflict. It is 
almost as if they cannot exist without someone to hate, someone to kill.
    They know a new day has been dawning in the Middle East. They know 
the vast majority of Israelis and Palestinians want a new day of peace. 
With every new step taken along the way, the harshest enemies of peace 
have grown more and more desperate. We must not allow them to prevail. 
The best way to defeat them is to first restore security and then 
bolster the peace they fear, that will take away their very reason for 
being.
    We will counter the threat of terror with unshakable resolve. As I 
have pledged to Prime Minister Peres, the United States is working with 
Israel to stop the killing, to bring the criminals to justice, to step 
up the

[[Page 425]]

struggle for peace. But just as important as the strength of our 
policies is the strength we must carry in our hearts.
    I remember the story of Daniel. Because his faith never wavered, 
even in the face of those who betrayed him and had him cast into the den 
of lions, God delivered Daniel. Have faith, and I believe God will 
deliver Israel from those powerful vipers who have the ability to turn 
young men into mad suicidal mass murderers. Those awful people who would 
slaughter young children to defeat those who only want those children to 
grow up in peace and who, on this very night, have succeeded in 
terrifying every young child in Israel, who goes to bed tonight worrying 
about whether he or she will be the next to have their life cut short.
    One of Sunday's victims in Jerusalem was a Palestinian nurse. She 
reminds us that the people of Israel are not alone, not only beyond 
their borders but within the borders. She lived and worked and 
ultimately died among her Jewish friends. I was struck by the words I 
read that her oldest son spoke. He said, ``I'm angry at every person who 
kills. I'm angry at people who make hate and destroy. All the people who 
were on that bus were peaceful. They were civilians. They only wanted to 
go to work. There's no difference between you and me because we're human 
beings. We have eyes and hearts and souls.''
    Around the world, the world we see today, I believe the fundamental 
differences are no longer between Jews and Arabs or Protestants and 
Catholics or Muslims and Serbs and Croats. We see all over the world 
what the real dividing line is--between those who embrace peace and 
those who would destroy it, those who look to a future of hope and those 
who are trapped in a past of hatred, those who open their arms and those 
who insist on clenching their fists.
    Once again under terrible burdens, the people of Israel must choose 
the fight against terrorism, to restore their security, to stand for 
peace. Once again as ever, the United States stands with you, shoulder 
to shoulder, heart to heart.
    ``Ha-zak, ha-zak, vuh-neet ha-zake.'' May God bless the victims and 
cherish their souls. And may God bless Israel with the faith and courage 
of Daniel.

Note: The President spoke at 8:04 p.m. in Jerusalem Hall at the Embassy. 
In his remarks, he referred to Israeli Ambassador Etamar Rabinovich; 
Rabbi Matthew H. Simon, president, United Jewish Appeal in Washington, 
DC; Peter B. Krauser, president, Jewish Community Council of Greater 
Washington; and Cantor Ramon Tasat, Agudas Achim Congregation.