[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 6 (Monday, February 11, 2002)]
[Pages 194-197]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following Discussions With Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel 
and an Exchange With Reporters

February 7, 2002

    President Bush. I'm going to make a statement; the Prime Minister 
will make a statement. We both have agreed we'll answer two questions 
from both sides. I'll call on somebody; the Prime Minister's press aide 
will call on somebody; and that's the way we're going to do it.
    So it's my honor to welcome a good friend, the Prime Minister of 
Israel, back to the Oval Office. Mr. Prime Minister, I'm so glad you're 
here. Welcome back.
    We just had an extensive discussion, first about our mutual desire 
to rid the world of terror. I assured him that our Nation is just 
beginning in a great objective, which is to eliminate those terrorist 
organizations of global reach. And by doing so, I firmly believe that 
the world will be a more peaceful place. My most important objective is 
to protect our homeland. The best way to do so is to rout terrorist 
organizations where they try to hide and bring them to justice.
    Secondly, I assured the Prime Minister that we will continue to keep 
pressure on Mr. Arafat to convince him that he must take serious, 
concrete, real steps to reduce terrorist activity in the Middle East.
    We had an interesting discussion about how we can help the 
Palestinian--those who aren't involved with terror. I'm deeply concerned 
about the plight of the average Palestinian, the moms and dads who are 
trying to raise their children, to educate their children. My government 
is--I've got $300 million in the budget to go through NGOs to help 
Palestinians be able to realize a better life.
    And finally, we had a good discussion about how best to work 
together to get the Mitchell process started, to get into Tenet and then 
in Mitchell. In other words, that we had wide-ranging discussions not 
only about international terror but security, about economic development 
for the Palestinians, as well as for the desire to achieve--to get into 
Mitchell so that there can be some long-lasting peace in the region.
    And so, Mr. Prime Minister, I appreciate the candid discussion. I 
appreciate your friendship, and I want to welcome you back.
    Prime Minister Sharon. Thank you, Mr. President. I was very glad to 
be again at the White House. We had discussions about strategic issues 
in the region. We talked about the need to fight terror and not to get 
into compromise with terror--one cannot get into compromise with terror. 
At the same time, we discussed steps that should be taken in order to 
improve the life conditions of those Palestinians that are not involved 
in terror.

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That's my intention. It was always my intention. And of course, we'll 
try and see what can be done.
    And altogether, I think that we can look forward with optimism, 
though it's not going to be a short struggle against terror. It's a long 
struggle. But I'm sure that we will win, as I have a real admiration, 
Mr. President, for the steps that you have been taking against terror in 
order to defend our values.
    Q. Mr. President----
    President Bush. Hold on a second. And I'm going to do the calling on 
who gets the question. He's not through yet.
    Are you through?
    Prime Minister Sharon. Is there any questions?
    President Bush. Yes, there's going to be. [Laughter]
    Barry Schweid [Associated Press]. [Laughter] I'm the control guy. 
[Laughter]
    Q. I'm new at this.
    President Bush. Welcome. [Laughter] You don't look that new to me, 
Barry. But anyway, please.
    Q. I did your dad.
    President Bush. That's right.

Situation in the Middle East

    Q. At this point, sir, is there a point for the U.S. to talk to Mr. 
Arafat? Is there a point for Israel to talk to Arafat?
    President Bush. Well, Mr. Arafat has heard from us. I can't be any 
more clear in my position, and that is that he must do everything in his 
power to fight terror.
    Obviously, we were at first surprised and then extremely 
disappointed when the Karine A showed up loaded with weapons, weapons 
that could have only been intended for one thing, which was to 
terrorize. And I made our Government's position about as clear as I 
could. I couldn't say it any more plainly, and I haven't changed my 
position.
    And as to what the Prime Minister's position is, he can answer that.
    Prime Minister Sharon. I personally, myself and my government, 
regard Arafat as an obstacle to peace. Arafat has chosen a strategy of 
terror and formed a coalition of terror. Therefore, we believe that 
pressure should be put on Arafat in order, maybe, I hope, to have an 
authoritative leadership in the future.
    Q. Mr. President, the Israeli Defense Minister said today that Ms. 
Condoleezza Rice and also your Vice President Cheney said that they 
don't trust Arafat, they don't believe any words coming out of his 
mouth, and there's no point keeping talking to him. Do you think, as 
those officials, that there is a point to keep talking to him, to be in 
contact with him? Or do you think it is time to change the phase in the 
pressure on Arafat?
    President Bush. Mr. Arafat has heard my message. I can't be any more 
clear about it, that he must do everything in his power to reduce 
terrorist attacks on Israel. And that--at one point in time he was 
indicating to us that he was going to do so, and then all of a sudden a 
ship loaded with explosives show up that most of the world believes he 
was involved with.
    And I think it's very important that people realize that this great 
Nation wants us to get into Mitchell as quickly as possible, but we 
fully understand that it's difficult to have peace during terrorist 
times, and that our campaign against global terror should help the 
region.
    And I am absolutely committed to fighting terror wherever terror 
exists. And I would hope other leaders do so. And Mr. Arafat has a 
chance to do so, and my hope is, is that he responds in a positive way.
    At the same time, I am deeply concerned about the plight of the 
average Palestinian. I worry about stories and pictures I see of people 
going hungry and children not being educated and deep concerns etched on 
the faces of moms and dads who happen to be Palestinian. And my 
government--we've discussed this openly with the Prime Minister, and as 
I said, we budgeted money to go through nongovernmental organizations to 
help. And I think the world understands that there's a lot of folks over 
there who suffer because of the terrorist activities of a few.

Vice President's Upcoming Visit to the Middle East

    Q. Mr. President, did Iran and Iraq figure in your conversations 
today with the Prime Minister? And why are you sending Vice President 
Cheney to the region next month,

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and particularly the four countries that directly border on Iraq?
    President Bush. I'm sending the Vice President because, one, he is a 
key player in our administration, and I want to get feedback from the 
world, from the world leaders. I want them to see firsthand, as well, 
our strong intent to fight terror.
    There's nothing like looking somebody in the eye and letting them 
know that when we say we're going to fight terror, we mean it. And 
there's nothing like people getting a sense of the determination of this 
Government. There's a lot of folks who might have predicted that over 
time we would grow weary, and we'd get tired, and we'd kind of get faint 
of heart. The Vice President can deliver the message to many important 
world leaders that our Government is absolutely committed to fighting 
terror, and we expect people to join us in doing so.
    As I said, either you're with or you're against us. And we fully 
understand that in order to be effective in our fight against terror, 
that we need others to join us. And so the Vice President, I think, is 
going to be very effective at convincing--at convincing our friends we 
mean business. And we would hope that they would do everything in their 
power to shut off money, to deny haven, and to join this grand coalition 
dedicated to one thing, freedom and peace.
    As to whether or not we discussed other countries in the region: You 
bet. We discussed a lot of countries in the region, and we've had a very 
frank and open discussion.

Palestinian State

    Q. President Bush, the Government of Israel decided not to let 
Chairman Arafat move--[inaudible]. Do you think this decision serves the 
goal of stability in the Middle East?
    And one question for you, Prime Minister Sharon. You said a couple 
of months ago that you want to give the Palestinians a Palestinian 
state, for the first time. Do you still support the same----
    President Bush. Do you want to go first?
    Prime Minister Sharon. Yes. I believe that the end of the process 
first should be the perfect right to be a full cessation of terror and 
violence and incitement. And then several steps will be taken by the 
Palestinians, like arresting--serious arrest of the terrorists, 
dismantling terrorist organizations and their infrastructure, collecting 
their weapons that should be handed to American representatives and 
destroyed out of the area. Once they would take serious preventive steps 
and stop completely incitement, then we'll start negotiations.
    I believe that one day we'll be reaching a peace. Israel is 
committed to peace. And at the end of the process, I believe that the 
Palestinian state, of course, will be--we'll see a Palestinian state, 
but only at the end. And the final steps that should be taken in order 
to start negotiations--they cannot be done under terror. We are--my role 
and my government's role is to defend our citizens against acts of 
terror.
    President Bush. We, too, of course, support a Palestinian state, one 
that's been negotiated by the parties, one that recognizes that Israel 
has got a right to exist. And Israel will be supportive of their right 
to self-govern. I think that's an ultimate aim that we all have got to 
work hard to get to. The problem is, there are some that don't want to 
get there and, therefore, terrorize.
    My position on Mr. Arafat is clear as of today. I can't be any more 
clear about what I think he ought to do. And I'm confident if he were to 
make these strong steps toward reducing terror, it would help the 
world--it would help tell the world that he is fully dedicated toward 
achieving the objectives that we both described.
    And it's going to be hard to have a peace process if--so long as 
there's terrorist activity. But we believe strongly that Chairman Arafat 
needs to put a 100 percent effort to achieve a peaceful--some peace, so 
that we can then get to a political process. And that's very important 
for us.
    Listen, thank you all for coming.

Note: The President spoke at 6:25 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Chairman Yasser Arafat of the 
Palestinian Authority. The President also referred to the Mitchell 
report, the Report of the Sharm el-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee, issued 
April 30, 2001, and the Tenet plan, the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire 
and security plan of June 13, 2001, negotiated by Director of Central 
Intelligence George

[[Page 197]]

J. Tenet. A reporter referred to Minister of Defense Binyamin Ben 
Eliezer of Israel. A tape was not available for verification of the 
content of these remarks.