[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 51 (Monday, December 21, 1998)]
[Pages 2478-2479]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks With President Ezer Weizman of Israel on Lighting the Menorah in 
Jerusalem

December 13, 1998

    President Weizman. Mr. President, Mrs. Clinton, I don't think that 
you will understand Hebrew by now, but with your affection to our 
country, with your support, I think this will come, too. [Laughter] If I 
may switch over to my Biblical Hebrew:

[At this point, President Weizman began speaking in Hebrew. The 
following translation was released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary.]

    Beloved audience, dear audience, dear children--give me your hand, 
dear, you sang beautifully. I am happy to see you in our home, and I 
hope that this festival of Hanukkah will be a holiday which, perhaps, 
will rekindle a light in the right direction to strengthen the 
foundations of the State of Israel in its economy, its security, 
immigration, science, education, and its road to peace.
    The President of the United States has come to us. He has come not 
just as a guest but to help, and we must appreciate this and see if it 
is possible to ``push the cart forward'' that, in the rest of the world, 
is known as being ``stuck in the mud'' but to us, rather is ``stuck in 
the sand.'' I don't know if it's easier to get out of sand than from 
mud. In any case, we must free it, and I hope, I am sure, that our 
Government will make all the necessary efforts.
    The subject is not easy nor simple; it's complicated and complex. 
And from this night of Hanukkah, which is also the eve of the 21st 
century in less than 13 months, we will also begin to see a different 
type of life from our lives to date, despite our having made great 
achievements in the last 50 years.
    President Clinton. Thank you very much, Mr. President and Mrs. 
Weizman. Let me say a special word of welcome in greetings on behalf of 
Hillary and myself to all the children who are here, and my thanks to 
these wonderful voices we have just heard sing. And I congratulate this 
young man for holding the candle all that time and not burning himself. 
Congratulations! [Laughter]
    It is our great honor, all of the American delegation here, the 
members of our administration and the Members of Congress, to celebrate 
the first day of Hanukkah with the President and some of Israel's finest 
young people. This is a joyous time of year for Jewish people 
everywhere, here in Israel, in America, around the world, a moment to 
cherish your extraordinary past, to strive for a future worthy of your 
history.
    On this occasion, you celebrate not simply a long week of happiness 
but thousands of years of triumph over adversity. You thank God not only 
for miracles but for hard-earned achievement. May this Menorah bring 
light through wisdom and illumination.

[[Page 2479]]

May it bring warmth through faith and fellowship. May it kindle a divine 
spark of peace touching all the peoples and places of the Holy Land. May 
it bring hope that after 50 years of building, security finally will 
come to all the people of Israel. And may it bring more than hope; may 
it ignite in each of you the will and strength to bring these hopes to 
reality.
    All of you in this way can serve as candles full of light. Let our 
descendants look back at Israel at the turn of this new century and say 
the words that every Jewish child knows from the letters on the dreidel: 
A great miracle happened here.
    Happy Hanukkah.

Note: The President spoke at approximately 5:20 p.m. in the Foyer of 
Beit Hannassi. In his remarks, he referred to President Weizman's wife, 
Reuma; and Moshe Metbabo, who lit the first candle in the menorah.