[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 28 (Monday, July 19, 1999)]
[Pages 1377-1381]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Prior to Discussions With Prime Minister Ehud Barak of Israel 
and an Exchange With Reporters

July 15, 1999

    President Clinton. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am 
delighted to welcome Prime Minister Barak to Washington. As all of you 
know, he is the most decorated soldier in Israel's history. And as a 
soldier, as Army Chief of Staff, Interior Minister, and Foreign 
Minister, he has made immeasurable contributions to his nation's 
security and its emergence as a modern, thriving democratic society, 
time and again taking on tough tasks and getting them done right.
    Now, as Prime Minister he has put Middle East peace at the top of 
his agenda, telling his fellow citizens that Israel's triumph, and I 
quote, ``will not be complete until true peace, trust, and cooperation 
reign between Israel and its neighbors.''
    Mr. Prime Minister, if your mentor, Yitzhak Rabin, were here today, 
I believe he would be very gratified, seeing the leadership of his 
cherished nation in your most capable hands.
    For more than half a century, the United States has stood proudly 
with Israel and for the security of its people and its nation. Now, Mr. 
Prime Minister, as Israel again walks bravely down the path of peace, 
America will walk with you, ready to help in any way we can.
    As we have seen before here at this house, as Israelis, 
Palestinians, Egyptians, and Jordanians have come together, what at 
first seems unlikely, even impossible, can actually become reality when 
the will for peace is strong. America will help as you move forward, as 
you put implementation of the Wye

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River agreement back on course, as you work for a final status 
agreement, as you seek to widen the circle of peace to include Syria and 
Lebanon and to revitalize talks among Israel and the Arab world to solve 
regional problems and build a prosperous common future. I look forward 
to our meeting and to strengthening the bonds between Israel and the 
United States.
    First, Mr. Prime Minister, again, welcome. The podium is yours.
    Prime Minister Barak. Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, I came 
here as a messenger of the people of Israel who have called for change 
and renewal, and I am determined to bring about change and renewal. I 
and the people of Israel attach great importance to the relations with 
the United States, its friendship and support and its invaluable 
contribution to the peace process. 
The United States has always been true and 
tried friend of Israel, and President Clinton personally has played an 
important role in changing the Middle East landscape.
    I came to Washington following a series of talks with a number of 
Middle East leaders. I assured them that we would work as partners with 
mutual trust in order to overcome all the challenges and complications 
that are still awaiting us down the street.
    We agreed that we need to abide by the previous agreements signed by 
all parties, including the Wye accords. It is our intention to inject 
new momentum into the peace process and to put it back on all tracks. 
For this, we need American leadership and support all along the way.
    Mr. President, we are on the threshold of the 21st century and the 
third millennium. Mothers, fathers, and children all across the Middle 
East yearn for the dawn of a new era. They expect us to provide them 
with a better and safer future. We cannot let their hopes down. 
Together, as partners in the search for peace, we can help transform the 
Middle East from an area of confrontation and enmity to a region of 
peace, security, and prosperity.
    I look forward to all my meetings here, and I hope that this visit 
will usher in a new era in the peace process and further deepen 
American-Israeli relations.
    Thank you very much.
    Q. Mr. Prime Minister----
    Q. Mr. President----
    President Clinton. Let me tell you--here's what we'll do. We'll take 
a couple of questions from the Americans and a couple of questions from 
the Israelis, but we'll start with a question from the American press.
    Sam [Sam Donaldson, ABC News].

U.S. Role in Middle East Peace Process

    Q. Mr. Prime Minister, when you say as you did the other day, words 
to the effect that the United States perhaps should step back somewhat 
and let the parties do more of the work, what do you mean by that?
    And, Mr. President, how would that change U.S. involvement in the 
process?
    Prime Minister Barak. I think that the United States can contribute 
to the process more as facilitator than as a kind of policeman, judge, 
and arbitrator at the same time. This was the tradition when Yitzhak 
Rabin was leading the peace process, and I deeply believe that this is 
the right way to have the best kind of inference and the best kind of 
contribution that the United States can bring into the peace process.
    It is clear to all of us that without United States participation, 
contribution, and without the leadership that had been shown in the past 
by the President--and I hope will be shown in the future by the American 
administration--we won't be able to reach a peace. And I'm confident 
that we'll find these resources and move forward towards peace that all 
our peoples are awaiting.
    President Clinton. I agree with what the Prime Minister said. I 
thought that the peace process worked best when we were essentially 
facilitating direct contacts between the parties and helping to make 
sure that there was a clear understanding, helping to make sure that we 
were there to do whatever we could do to, now and in the future, to make 
sure that it would work.
    We took a more active role, in effect, as a mediator when the bonds 
of trust and the lines of communication had become so frayed that we 
were in danger of losing the peace process. And I did not want that to 
happen, and I didn't think either side wanted that to happen. So we did 
what was necessary to keep it going. But, obviously, if there is

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a genuine priority put on this--there's a sense of trust and mutual 
communication on both sides--the people in the region have to live with 
the consequences of the agreements they make; it is far better for them 
to take as large a role as possible in making those agreements. And so, 
to that extent, I agree with the Prime Minister.
    Do you want to call on an Israeli journalist? Is there anyone----

Visit of Prime Minister Barak

    Q. Mr. President, when you say that you are waiting for Mr. Barak as 
a kid that's waiting for a new toy, you don't think that by this remark 
you're making some kind of patronizing on Mr. Barak, that you want to 
play with him? What kind of game do you want to play with Mr. Barak?
    President Clinton. No, I don't think it's patronizing at all; it's 
just the reverse. What I'm saying is that the United States is a sponsor 
of the peace process. We have done what we could consistently for more 
than 20 years now through all kinds of administrations to try to advance 
the peace process. I have probably spent more time on it than anyone 
has, and certainly I've spent a lot of time on it.
    But my view is that we should not be in a patronizing role, we 
should be in a supportive role. We should do what is necessary to keep 
the peace process going. But you heard what the Prime Minister said. He 
said that the United States' role was essential, it was best if it 
worked as a facilitator. He has already gone to see all the leaders of 
the region with whom he must work, or many of the leaders of the region 
with whom he must work, which I thought was the right thing to do in the 
right order. So I was supporting the position that he took.
    Prime Minister Barak. Wolf Blitzer [Cable News Network], you are 
half American, half Israeli, so you get priority. [Laughter]
    Q. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. I think what the previous 
reporter, Shimon Shiffer, was asking the President--I don't think the 
President necessarily understood the question. Your comment at the 
Democratic fundraiser in Florida the other day, when you said you were 
as excited as a young kid with a new toy about the meetings that you're 
going to have with the new Prime Minister, which today have caused some 
consternation, headlines in Israel--that you were referring to the Prime 
Minister as a new toy.
    President Clinton. No, no--I see, yes----
    Prime Minister Barak. May I tell you Wolf, that I feel like someone 
who got the mission of diffusing a time bomb, and I believe that we are 
all under urgent need to deal very seriously not with a tricky 
interpretation of an innocent favorable statement but by looking into 
the real problems and focus on solving them.
    President Clinton. Yes, let me say, though--I didn't understand, 
you're right. Thank you, Wolf. That is--in English, what that means is 
that you are very excited. It has no reference to the Prime Minister. 
For example--[laughter]--I would never do that. For example, if I--no, 
no, if I were taking a trip to Hawaii, I might say, I'm as excited as a 
kid with a new toy--doesn't mean I think Hawaii's a toy, if you see what 
I mean. It means that--it's a slogan, you know. In American English, it 
means I am very excited about the prospect of the rejuvenation of the 
peace process. And that's all it means. I would never say such a 
patronizing thing, ever.
    So I thank you; thank you, Wolf. This is a historic moment. Blitzer 
helps me make peace with the press and the people of Israel. That's 
wonderful. [Laughter] Yes, now you get a real question.

Middle East Peace Process

    Q. Mr. President, the Prime Minister has suggested that he's going 
to have to use up a lot of his domestic political capital in Israel in 
order to fully implement the Wye agreement. Would it be wise to go right 
away to the final status issues and let them save some of that political 
capital for the tough decisions Israel is going to have to make down the 
road? Would you be willing to go along with deferring some of the 
agreements that were achieved at Wye?
    President Clinton. First of all, I'm not quite sure that's what he 
said, but I think that those kinds of questions ought--may be

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properly to be asked of us after we have a chance to have our meeting. 
But the problem is, we have--maybe we ought to let him answer it--but 
there is another party there, and they have their expectations. So maybe 
I should let the Prime Minister answer that.
    Prime Minister Barak. We abide by an international agreement, Wye 
agreement included. It had been signed by an Israeli freely elected 
government, by the Americans, and by Chairman Arafat. We are committed 
to live up to it. But there is a need to combine the implementation of 
Wye with the moving forward of the permanent status agreement. It could 
be this way--first Wye, then final status. It could be this way, but 
only through an agreement with Arafat after mutual, open, frank, and 
direct discussion.
    If we together agree, whether with the Americans and Arafat, that 
something could be made in order to bring those two elements together, I 
hope and believe that even the international press would not resist it 
very forcefully.

President Hafiz al-Asad of Syria

    Q. Prime Minister Barak, you have met with President Mubarak; you 
have met with President Arafat; you have met with King Abdullah. What 
are the possibilities of a meeting between you and President Hafiz 
al-Asad?
    Prime Minister Barak.  We still wait to see. When the time comes, I 
hope we'll be able to meet. It takes two to tango. I'm ready; the arena 
is ready; maybe the dancing instructor is ready. We have to find 
opportunity and begin.
    President Clinton. Now, let me say that is not a patronizing remark 
toward President Asad as the Prime Minister's dancing partner. 
[Laughter]
    Helen [Helen Thomas, United Press International], go ahead.

Israeli Settlements

     Q. Mr. Prime Minister, when do you plan to disband the heavily 
armed settlements in Palestine?
    Prime Minister Barak. I'm not sure whether I understood the 
question, so could you please repeat it?
    Q. There are more and more settlements being built around Jerusalem 
and so forth. Are you going to disband them?
    Prime Minister Barak. No. I'm not going to build new ones. I'm not 
going to dismantle any one of them. Israeli citizens live in them. They 
came to these places, almost all of them, through an approval of the 
Israeli Government. We are responsible for them. But the overall picture 
will be settled once we end the permanent status negotiation and 
whatever will be agreed, we will do. I believe in a strong block of 
settlements that will include most of the settlers in Judeo-Samaria and 
the Gaza Strip.
    Thank you.
    President Clinton. Thank you.

Arab-Americans

    Q. Mr. President, many Arab-American organizations in this country 
are very skeptical about Arabs getting a fair chance in Israel, while 
Arab-Americans from Arab descent and from this country going to Israel 
having very harsh treatment. There are four people sitting in jail 
without due process. They are badly treated at the airport. Can you 
comment on that?
    Prime Minister Barak. I will answer. I'm ready to look into this 
problem. We have no intentions to humiliate or to intimidate any Arab 
citizens, be it Israelis, Americans, or of other countries. And I cannot 
respond directly to the story you are telling since I don't know the 
details.
    President Clinton. Thank you very much.

Palestinian Right of Return/Location of U.S. Embassy in Israel

    Q. Mr. President, do you personally believe in the Palestinian right 
of return, even though your comments perhaps at the press conference 
with Mr. Mubarak might not reflect a change in U.S. policy?
    And to Prime Minister Barak, one issue here in the States has been 
the question of moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Jerusalem to Tel 
Aviv. Do you think that that has to happen? I'm sorry--from Tel Aviv to 
Jerusalem. Thank you. Do you believe that that needs to happen now?
    Prime Minister Barak. Be careful about the directions. [Laughter]

[[Page 1381]]

    Q. Do you believe that that needs to happen now, or can that wait 
for progress in the peace process?
    President Clinton. Do you want me to go first?
    First of all, as you correctly stated, nothing that I have said 
should be interpreted as a change in United States policy. I do think 
there will be a general atmosphere when the peace is finally made which 
will be positive. That's all I said.
    On that question, the question you asked me that is explicitly an 
issue stated for final status negotiations by the parties; that's part 
of the final status talks. The United States, as a sponsor of the peace 
process, has asked the parties to do nothing to prejudge final status 
issues. We certainly should be doing nothing to prejudge the final 
status issues. That is why I have had a consistent position on that, on 
the Embassy, on every issue. Whatever else we do, the United States has 
no business trying to prejudge these final status issues. That's what 
the parties have to work out in the final status talks.
    Q. But Mrs. Clinton has certainly prejudged them.
    Prime Minister Barak. As the Prime Minister of Israel, I would like 
to see all the Embassies from all around the world coming to Jerusalem, 
and we will do whatever we can to provide the preconditions for it. I 
feel that the essence of the peace effort that we are trying to drive 
forward right now is to bring within the shortest possible time a new 
landscape, political landscape in the Middle East that will make the 
whole question irrelevant; you will see all the Embassies together, side 
by side, in Jerusalem.
    Thank you very much.

Israeli Astronauts

    Q. Mr. Prime Minister, is there going to be Israeli astronauts on 
the space station? Are you going to discuss this issue, and do you 
desire such?
    Prime Minister Barak. I like Israelis, especially Israeli 
astronauts. There is an officer, highly competent officer in our air 
force, and I would be more than glad to see him walking in space when we 
enter the new millennium, maybe in 2001 or 2002.
    Thank you.
    President Clinton. Thank you. We have to go to work.

First Lady's Views on Middle East Peace Process

    Q. Mr. President, what about Mrs. Clinton? She's prejudged the 
issues. What about Mrs. Clinton's prejudgment, Mr. President? Tell us 
about Mrs. Clinton's prejudgment, sir.
    President Clinton. That's why Senator Moynihan's law is good; every 
individual Member of Congress can express a personal opinion, but 
because of the waiver, the United States does not have to prejudge the 
final status issue. That's good. That's the way the law is set up, and 
it's good.
    Q. Also, she's not President, is she?
    President Clinton. That's right.

Note: The President spoke at 2:29 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House. Prime Minister Barak referred to Chairman Yasser Arafat of the 
Palestinian Authority. A portion of the remarks could not be verified 
because the tape was incomplete.