[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 42 (Monday, October 19, 1998)]
[Pages 2051-2052]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following Discussions With Israeli and Palestinian Leaders and 
an Exchange With Reporters

October 15, 1998

Middle East Peace Process

    The President. Good morning. I am pleased to welcome Prime Minister 
Netanyahu, Chairman Arafat, and their delegations.
    For 17 months, the Middle East peace process has been stalled, 
placing in jeopardy all that Israelis and Palestinians have achieved 
together since the Oslo accords. This week's talk at Wye River offer the 
chance for the parties to break the logjam and finally take the next 
essential steps for peace in the Middle East. We must remember as we 
come together again that in the end, peace is more than a process. It 
is, in the end, a destination. These two leaders have the power to lead 
their people to peace.
    As I said to Prime Minister Netanyahu and Chairman Arafat only a few 
moments ago, I believe there are certain realities that underlie these 
negotiations. First, Israelis and Palestinians are neighbors, and what 
they must do, they must do together, or it will not be done at all. 
Second, mutual respect and understanding is required for any meaningful 
and enduring agreement. Otherwise, there can be no honorable, principled 
compromise.
    As in any difficult problem, neither side can expect to win a 
hundred percent of every point. But concessions that seem hard now will 
seem far less important in the light of an accord that moves Israelis 
and Palestinians closer to lasting peace, closer to a day when the 
people of Israel can have the safety and security they have been denied 
for too long, closer to the day when Palestinian people can realize 
their aspirations to be free and secure and able to shape their own 
political and economic destiny.
    There remain enemies of this peace, extremists on both sides who 
feel threatened by the peace and will be tempted once again to kill it 
with violence. We can defeat that kind of threat by building a genuine 
Israeli-Palestinian partnership that will stand the test of time.

[[Page 2052]]

    Too much time has already been lost. The issues on the table at Wye 
River are very important, and more difficult issues lie ahead in the 
implementation of any agreement the parties may reach and in the 
permanent status talks for a just and lasting peace in the region.
    Secretary Albright and the Vice President and I and our entire team 
will do everything we can to make peace possible, at Wye River and 
beyond. But in the end, it is up to the leaders standing with me today, 
to their courage, their vision, their determination, and a shared 
understanding that the future has to be a shared in peace.
    I hope you and my fellow Americans and the world will wish them, and 
all of us, well in these next few days.
    Thank you very much.
    Q. Mr. President, can a Palestinian state be achieved by 1999?
    The President. Let me say--I know there are many questions--we have 
discussed this. There is so much work to be done, and all three of us 
have determined that we should not at this moment take questions but 
that we should get about the business at hand. And as we make progress 
and if we've got something really good to say to you, then there'll be 
plenty of time for a lot of questions and answers. But for right now, we 
think it's time to go to work.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 11:16 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House, following discussions with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of 
Israel and Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Authority.