[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 4 (Monday, January 26, 1998)]
[Pages 123-124]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Prior to Discussions With Chairman Yasser Arafat of the 
Palestinian Authority and an Exchange With Reporters

January 22, 1998

Middle East Peace Process

    The President. Let me say before we begin that I am very pleased to 
welcome Chairman Arafat back to the United States as our partner in the 
peace process. As I did with Prime Minister Netanyahu, I want to 
emphasize what a critical time this is in the process and the importance 
of both parties meeting their obligations.
    I also would like to take just a second to underline the principles 
of the peace process: mutual obligations and the concept of land for 
peace, so that Israelis can live in security, recognized by all their 
neighbors, and the Palestinians can realize their aspirations to live as 
a free people. If we can focus on these principles, I'm convinced we can 
make some progress. I'm going to give Chairman Arafat a little report on 
my meeting with Mr. Netanyahu, and then we're going to go to work.
    Q. Mr. President, when do you think the Israelis will finally meet 
their U.N. obligations, or treaty obligations, to give back conquered 
land?
    The President. Well, we're going to discuss that. We're working on 
it. We believe the Oslo process sets out a schedule for redeployment, 
and that's obviously one of the major issues to be discussed.
    Q. But they're not going to meet it, are they?
    The President. Well, give us a chance. We're working on it.

[At this point, a reporter asked Chairman Arafat a question in Arabic, 
and a translation was not provided.]

    Q. Mr. President, what's the next step now, and is there a timeframe 
where you want things to move?
    The President. Well, after this meeting, then what we'll do is to 
see whether we have moved the parties closer together. And if we have, 
then we'll try to figure out how to close the loop and get an 
understanding on what the next steps are. And if we can do that--we want 
to do it, obviously, fairly quickly; we don't want to just keep dragging 
this out. I think we have a sense of urgency here.

[At this point, a reporter asked Chairman Arafat a question in Arabic, 
and a translation was not provided.]

    Q. Mr. Arafat, do you believe progress was made with Prime Minister 
Netanyahu, and do you believe progress will be made this week? And would 
you agree to a few-stage withdrawal?
    Chairman Arafat. As long as there is pressure and efforts by 
President Clinton, I'm fully confident that the peace process will be 
protected and will be succeeded. And we should not forget that the 
President also has sent Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State, and Mr. 
Ross to the region many times to push the peace process forward.
    Q. So you believe Mr. Netanyahu will stand by his commitments?
    Chairman Arafat. We hope so, he would do so.

[[Page 124]]

Independent Counsel's Investigation

    Q. Forgive us for raising this while you're dealing with important 
issues in the Middle East, but could you clarify for us, sir, exactly 
what your relationship was with Ms. Lewinsky, and whether the two of you 
talked by phone, including any messages you may have left?
    The President. Let me say, first of all, I want to reiterate what I 
said yesterday. The allegations are false, and I would never ask anybody 
to do anything other than tell the truth. Let's get to the big issues 
there, about the nature of the relationship and whether I suggested 
anybody not tell the truth. That is false.
    Now, there are a lot of other questions that are, I think, very 
legitimate. You have a right to ask them; you and the American people 
have a right to get answers. We are working very hard to comply and get 
all the requests for information up here, and we will give you as many 
answers as we can, as soon as we can, at the appropriate time, 
consistent with our obligation to also cooperate with the 
investigations.
    And that's not a dodge, that's really why I've--I've talked with our 
people. I want to do that. I'd like for you to have more rather than 
less, sooner rather than later. So we'll work through it as quickly as 
we can and get all those questions out there to you.

Pope's Visit to Cuba

    Q. Mr. President, about the Pope and Cuba, what are your impressions 
of the remarkable scenes of the Pope in Cuba, and what about his call 
for an end to the embargo?
    The President. Well, first of all, I'm glad he went to Cuba. I think 
it's a wonderful thing and I'm glad that Mr. Castro invited him to come. 
I'm glad the Cuban Government let the Christian people in Cuba celebrate 
Christmas last Christmas, acknowledge it in an explicit and open way. 
And I hope that this trip will lead to some reassessment on the part of 
the Cuban Government that would enable us to move closer together in 
many ways.

Note: The President spoke at 10:11 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Ambassador Dennis B. Ross, Special 
Middle East Coordinator. Chairman Arafat spoke in Arabic, and his 
remarks were translated by an interpreter. A tape was not available for 
verification of the content of these remarks.