[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 15 (Monday, April 14, 1997)]
[Pages 470-472]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With Prime Minister 
Binyamin Netanyahu of Israel

April 7, 1997

Middle East Peace Process

    Q. Mr. President, how dangerous is the standoff between Israel and 
the Palestinians?
    The President. Well, I think it's very important to get this peace 
process back on track. The Prime Minister is coming here at a very good 
time. As you know, he saw King Hussein the other day; I did, too. And I 
want to have this chance to spend an hour with him to discuss what we 
can do to get it going again.
    Q. Mr. President, will you be amenable to hosting a peace conference 
at Camp David, as the Prime Minister has suggested?
    The President. Well, I think it's important not to jump the gun on 
that. The first thing we have to do is get the process going again. 
There is a preexisting process. There are a whole lot of agreements. And 
the Prime Minister has got some ideas about what we can do to get the 
substance working.
    Obviously, I've been heavily involved in this from the day I became 
President. I continue to be heavily involved, and I wouldn't rule out 
any reasonable opportunity for me to make a positive contribution. But 
we have to have the conditions and the understandings necessary to go 
forward. That's the most

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important thing, is to get the thing going again.
    Q. Mr. President, are the Palestinians entitled to a concession in 
order to make a statement against terrorism, the kind of zero-tolerance 
statement you want? Does Israel have to trade something for that, or is 
that just an obligation under the Oslo agreement?
    The President. I think under the Oslo agreement and under any sense 
of human rights and human decency, we ought to have zero tolerance for 
terrorism.
    Q. Mr. Prime Minister, how was your visit with King Hussein?
    Prime Minister Netanyahu. It was very good. I wanted very much to 
see him. He had paid a visit to Israel under very difficult times and, I 
think, expressed his humanity and his concern for peace, and I wanted to 
come there. And I wanted very much to come here as well. It's always, 
for me, a pleasure to meet President Clinton. He is the world leader, 
who is also taking tremendous efforts and tremendous pains to assist us 
in the quest for peace with security. I think both of us see eye to eye 
on the need to fight terrorism, and we'll explore these and other 
subjects, I'm sure.
    Q. Mr. President, you've said that your role is to support Israel as 
it takes risks for peace. Has the time come to exert more influence or 
pressure, as some would say, to get certain concessions from Israel?
    The President. I think the important thing is to create the 
environment in which the steps can be taken which will make peace 
possible. And one precondition of that, obviously, is the absence of 
terrorism; the other is the presence of a certain confidence on the part 
of both sides that peace is possible. And I think that I will do 
whatever I think is most appropriate to achieve that. But you all need 
to let us go to work here and try to get something done.
    Q. Thank you.

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

    Q. The Prime Minister said this morning that Israel will not pay 
with concessions for the right of not being terrorized. Just how badly 
concessions and gestures are needed now, or maybe the best one is a 
unity government in Israel to ignite and restart the peace process 
again?
    The President. Well, of course, the form of government in Israel is 
for the people of Israel to determine and, in this case, for the leaders 
of Israel to determine, not for me.
    I agree that freedom from terrorism is something which no one should 
have to purchase. I think it should be--it's a precondition; we have to 
have a secure environment and terrorism is wrong. Having said that, I 
think then the question is, how do we actually have an honorable 
negotiating process which will lead to a peace that the parties can 
fully and, indeed, wholeheartedly embrace? And that will require 
constructive steps. That's what we want to talk about today.
    But it shouldn't be ever seen as a bargain to be free from 
terrorism. No one should have to bargain to be free from terrorism. But 
we do need to continue the peace process in an honorable way that will 
bring it to an honorable conclusion.
    Q. Mr. President, what would be your position on the idea of having 
some sort of a Camp Clinton for the Middle East?
    The President. Well, I think the important thing, if I might, is to 
get the process going again and to have some idea in the minds of all of 
us who are part of it, about where we're going, an agreed-upon 
destination, and then to reestablish the confidence necessary for the 
parties to go forward. I think it's premature for us to commit to that 
until we can get this thing back on track again.
    I've been very active in this from the day I became President and 
deeply, personally committed to it and will remain so. So I wouldn't 
rule out anything. But I think it's important that we not put form over 
substance here. We need to know where we're going, and that's--I need to 
talk to the Prime Minister about that.
    Q. Mr. President, are you going to ask the Prime Minister to stop or 
to freeze the building in Har Homa near Jerusalem?
    The President. I'm going to have a conversation with the Prime 
Minister, if I can end the press conference. That's what I want to do.

[[Page 472]]

Note: The exchange began at 12:05 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, the President referred to King Hussein I of 
Jordan. A tape was not available for verification of the content of this 
exchange.