[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 52 (Monday, December 29, 1997)]
[Pages 2103-2104]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Celebration of Hanukkah and an Exchange With Reporters

December 23, 1997

    The President. Hello, everybody. Before we light the menorah, I'd 
like to make a brief statement. First of all, I'd like to welcome the 
Jewish Primary Day School students here and their principal, Susan Koss. 
I'd like to thank Mayrim Baram, who is not here, who lives in Israel, 
who did this magnificent, magnificent menorah for us. It's very, very 
beautiful. Dr. Amatzia Baram, his son, and Mrs. Baram are in the 
audience today, and through them I'd like to thank his father for this 
really beautiful menorah. I will treasure it always. And it's been up in 
the White House during the holiday season, so many people have come in 
here and have seen it.
    This evening I join the rest of the country in wishing you a happy 
Hanukkah. Tonight Jews across America and the world are celebrating the 
victory of the Maccabees over their oppressors and the Miracle of Lights 
that marked their triumph. This joyous holiday also reminds us of our 
precious right to religious freedom, a right we all hold dear as 
Americans, a right that is the very first one written into our Bill of 
Rights. Like the Maccabees, we must vigilantly oppose religious 
prejudice whenever we find it.
    I know that your teachers and rabbis have instilled in you the 
values of compassion, justice, and tolerance. And if you have courage to 
follow those values, you can be the Maccabees of our time.
    This year we will also celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 
creation of the modern State of Israel, the land where the miracle of 
Hanukkah occurred such a long time ago. But our prayers to God this 
holiday will be for peace in the land of Israel, for the tranquility of 
its people, for a bright and hopeful future, for all the children of the 
Middle East, children that are very much like you.
    Now as Danny Lew lights the menorah, I wish you all once again a 
very happy Hanukkah.
    Danny.

[At this point, Danny Lew lit the menorah.]

Health Care Task Force Civil Case

    Q. Mr. President, can we--if we have time for just one question. A 
Federal judge the other day had some very tough words for Ira Magaziner. 
But so far there's been no public comment from the White House. It seems 
like if that accusation was unfair, Mr. Magaziner is entitled to a 
public defense. And if it was fair, the public is entitled to an 
explanation of why somebody on the White House staff might mislead a 
judge.
    The President. First of all, it's a fair question, but because of 
what we've been doing the last few days and because of what we've been--
the holiday season, I honestly haven't read the judge's opinion, nor 
have I asked anyone on the staff for a response to it. So I'd like to 
ask you to just give me a pass until tomorrow or so. I'll be happy to 
answer it, but I don't want to give you the wrong answer.
    I was a little skeptical when I read the news story because I 
believe I know what the facts were, so I was quite skeptical when I read 
the news story. But I think it's a very fair question; we should answer 
the question.

[[Page 2104]]

I just don't think I'm prepared to do it now. And I'll be ready 
tomorrow. I'll ask someone, and you can ask me tomorrow.

Middle East Peace Process

    Q. Mr. President, what about the Middle East peace process? Is it 
going to take--Hanukkah celebrates--is a celebration of miracles--what 
is it going to take to rekindle the Middle East peace process?
    The President. Well, I'm actually quite hopeful. I think, first it 
takes a reaffirmation to the process of peace, which means that there 
should be a high level of security associated with the process itself. 
And I think there's general belief that the Palestinian Authority has 
redoubled its efforts on security. The Israeli Cabinet has seemed to 
adopt the position that said that they would be for another withdrawal 
consistent with the Oslo accords. There appears to be other discussion 
in Israel over the questions, the long-delayed questions about the 
airport and the port and the safe transit from the West Bank to Gaza.
    So I'm actually quite hopeful that in the coming year we'll have 
progress not only between the Israelis and Palestinians but also between 
Israel and Syria. I think the openness is there, and I think that many 
people are sobered by the consequences of the absence of a viable peace 
process. So maybe it's just the holiday season, but I'm feeling pretty 
upbeat about it.

Note: The President spoke at 5:25 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Mayrim Baram, an Israeli whose son 
died in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, his surviving son, Amatzia Baram, and 
his daughter-in-law, Bonnie Baram-Belkin; Susan Koss, director, and 
Danny Lew, student, Jewish Primary Day School of the Adas Israel 
Synagogue; and U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth.