[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 11 (Monday, March 17, 1997)]
[Pages 350-351]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Departure for Raleigh, North Carolina, and an Exchange With 
Reporters

March 13, 1997

Attack on Israeli Schoolchildren

    The President. Today along the normally peaceful border between 
Israel and Jordan, we have seen an inexcusable and tragic act of 
violence against schoolchildren. I condemn this act in the strongest 
possible terms. I offer to Prime Minister Netanyahu, the Israeli people, 
and the families and friends of the innocent children who died or were 
wounded my profound condolences and those of the American people.
    As I travel to North Carolina today to speak to people about our own 
schoolchildren, the senseless denial of a future for these young Israeli 
children will bear heavily on my mind. There is no justification or 
excuse for these acts. Now the leaders in the region must work hard to 
calm the situation, to do everything in their power to create an 
atmosphere in which violence is rejected rather than embraced.
    I call on the leaders and the people of the region to reject 
violence, to redouble their efforts toward peace and reconciliation. I 
was encouraged by the statement which King Hussein issued not long ago--
just a few moments ago--and I am very hopeful that the leaders and the 
people will respond in an appropriate manner.
    Thank you.

Jerusalem Settlements

    Q. Mr. President, do you believe the Israelis have to halt the 
settlements in East Jerusalem at this point? Do you think that might 
help calm the situation there?
    The President. Let me first say that there is no evidence at this 
moment that this terrible incident is related to the tensions in the 
area over the issues. For all we know, this may have been just a 
deranged person. And I think it is important, given King Hussein and 
Jordan's long record of reaching for peace and reconciliation, that no 
one jump to any undue conclusions.
    We don't have the facts. None of us have any facts other than we 
know this incident occurred. But we have no reason to believe that this 
was politically motivated by any larger group or anything. We just don't 
know that.
    But you know what I believe. I believe that this is a time when we 
need to be building confidence and working together and there needs to 
be a certain mutuality of action in the Middle East to get this peace 
process well underway. That is what I had hoped would happen after the 
Hebron agreement, and that is still what I believe has to happen if 
we're going to succeed.

[[Page 351]]

    So we'll be talking to all the parties, and I'm in more or less 
constant contact with them. And we'll continue to be hopeful. But for 
right now, I think we need to give the people of Israel the time to 
absorb this terrible shock.
    Thank you.
    Q. Have you had a chance to talk to King Hussein?
    The President. No.

Note: The President spoke at 8:36 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu 
of Israel and King Hussein I of Jordan.