[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 42 (Monday, October 24, 2005)]
[Pages 1560-1566]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's News Conference With President Mahmoud Abbas of the 
Palestinian Authority

October 20, 2005

    President Bush. Thank you all. Thanks. It's my honor to welcome the 
democratically elected leader of the Palestinian Authority to the White 
House for the second time this year. We just had some good talks. Mr. 
President, thanks--a good, open, exchange of ideas.
    President Abbas is a man devoted to peace and to his people's 
aspirations for a state of their own. And today the Palestinian people 
are closer to realizing those aspirations. It's a really interesting 
period of history, I think. I was just commenting to the President when 
we were in the Oval Office, how much things have changed in the Holy 
Land. After all, he got elected in January; there were successful 
Palestinian municipal elections; and then we witnessed the completion of 
Israel's disengagement from Gaza and parts of the West Bank. It's been 
an eventful year.
    And I say it's an eventful year because the ultimate objective is 
there--for there to be two states, living side by side in peace, two 
democracies living side by side in peace. And I believe that's where 
we're headed. Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and parts of West Bank was a 
bold decision with historic significance. President Abbas and the 
Palestinian Authority contributed to the success of the withdrawal in 
significant ways. Mr. President, thank you.
    Through the active coordination and ground-level cooperation between 
Israeli and Palestinian security forces, the disengagement has been 
completed successfully and

[[Page 1561]]

calmly. Israeli withdrawal creates new opportunities, creates 
responsibilities for the Palestinian people.
    The way forward must begin by confronting the threat that armed 
gangs pose to a genuinely democratic Palestine. And those armed gangs 
must confront the threat that armed gangs pose to lasting peace between 
the Israelis and the Palestinians.
    Now, Mr. President, you ran on a platform of peace. That's why the 
people voted for you. I strongly support your rejection of terror and 
your commitment to what you have called, one authority, one law, and one 
gun. The United States, in cooperation with the international community, 
has helped you achieve this through the efforts of our senior U.S. 
security coordinator, General Kip Ward. I appreciate your service, 
General Ward. Thank you for being here, and thank you for all your hard 
work to help the Palestinian security forces at a critical time. Job 
well done.
    In the coming days, I'll be naming our new coordinator to build on 
the progress General Ward has made. This person will take on an enhanced 
mission to help President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority carry out 
their responsibility to end terror attacks, dismantle terrorist 
infrastructure, maintain law and order, and one day, provide security 
for their own state.
    The way forward must include rebuilding the Palestinian economy. 
This goal has the support of the Quartet, the United States, the United 
Nations, the European Union, and Russia. Quartet Special Envoy Jim 
Wolfensohn is coordinating a broad effort to generate economic and 
financial support from the international community for the Palestinian 
Authority, and he's doing a good job. I'm going to continue to consult 
with our Quartet partners to ask Jim to extend his mission until next 
spring.
    It's important that we make quick progress on the issues that Jim 
has identified as most critical for the Palestinian economy, including 
opening the Rafah crossing, connecting the West Bank and Gaza, improving 
the ability of Palestinians to travel in the West Bank, and beginning 
work on the Gaza seaport. These are all practical steps that will help 
the Palestinian economy grow and flourish. I believe that Arab States 
have a particular responsibility to help the Palestinians build a strong 
and prosperous economy, and I urge them to create an environment in the 
region that strengthens the possibility of peace.
    The way forward must continue to include democratic elections. The 
upcoming elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council offer an 
opportunity to open the door to the next generation of Palestinian 
leaders. They'll be responsible for building a peaceful and hopeful 
future for their country.
    In the short term, the Palestinian Authority must earn the 
confidence of its people by holding elections and having a functioning 
government that delivers economic opportunity. The Palestinian Authority 
must also earn the confidence of its neighbors by rejecting and fighting 
terrorism.
    As I have stated in the past, achieving peace demands action from 
all parties. Israel must continue to work with Palestinian leaders to 
help improve the daily lives of Palestinians. At the same time, Israel 
should not undertake any activity that contravenes its roadmap 
obligations or prejudices the final status negotiations with regard to 
Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem. This means that Israel must remove 
unauthorized posts and stop settlement expansion. It also means that the 
barrier now being built to protect Israelis from terrorist attacks must 
be a security barrier, rather than a political barrier. Israeli leaders 
must take into account the impact this security barrier has on 
Palestinians not engaged in terrorist activities.
    This is a time of great possibility in the Middle East. And the 
people of the region are counting on their leaders to seize the 
opportunities for peace and progress. This work isn't going to be easy, 
but the path forward is clear. I want to thank President Abbas for his 
hard work. I appreciate your service, Mr. President. I assured him that 
the United States will use our influence to help realize a shared vision 
of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in 
peace and security.
    Welcome.
    President Abbas. Thank you. Mr. President, I would like to thank you 
for your warm

[[Page 1562]]

welcome, and I would like to express my satisfaction with the talks that 
I conducted with you and your senior aides.
    You have emphasized, Mr. President, from this place, about 5 months 
ago, the basic counters for the U.S. position regarding the various 
aspects of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This position, which you 
have reiterated today, contributes fundamentally to advance the chances 
of reviving and resuming the peace process in the region.
    In the last few months, the dismantling of settlements and the 
withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip was concluded. The 
Palestinian Authority have worked very hard with all its energy in order 
to make sure that this will happen without any incident, in order to 
have this as a window of an opportunity that will help us to move faster 
toward achieving additional steps on the way toward realizing just peace 
based on your vision and on international resolutions.
    This window, Mr. President, must remain open. And this opportunity 
must be strengthened through resolving all the outstanding issues--as 
you have mentioned, the Gaza crossing point and the establishment of a 
permanent link between Gaza and West Bank. At the same time, we must 
immediately start implementing what the roadmap and the Sharm el-Sheikh 
agreements regarding the cessation of settlement activities and 
construction of the wall in the West Bank, particularly in Jerusalem, in 
addition to withdrawal of the Israeli forces to positions prior to 
September 28, 2000.
    With the removal of the roadblocks, which, unfortunately, turned the 
lives of Palestinians into hardship, suffering, humiliation, and also in 
a very important sensitive issue, which is the release of prisoners of 
freedom from Israeli jails. The implementation of these requirements, 
Mr. President, represents urging the talks on permanent status issues 
regarding Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, borders, in order to reach, 
at the end, peace, which would allow for the establishment of an 
independent, democratic Palestinian state, on all the territories 
occupied in 1967. That state that would live in a good, neighborly 
relationship, in peace with the state of Israel.
    Mr. President, there is approximately 100 days between us and the 
elections for our legislative council, where the Palestinian people 
would go to the ballot box to elect for the first time since their--for 
the first time in 10 years--their representatives. This for us 
represents a very important landmark. On one hand, it crowns a whole 
year since I assumed office, and also, these elections would represent a 
renewal process, and a rebuilding process of our political process.
    Also, these elections will consolidate and reinforce the slogan I 
ran on during my Presidential election, which emphasized clearly the one 
authority, the one law, the one legal, legitimate law, and political 
pluralism. The new legislative council would be mandated by the people 
to legislate and issue these slogans and make them a reality.
    Once again, we repeat our pride of our democratic experience that's 
been undertaken by the Palestinian people, and we repeat and we say that 
the democracy can lose a lot of its momentum in the absence of freedom 
and with the continuation of occupation.
    Mr. President, our discussions today have allowed us to inform you 
of what the Palestinian National Authority is doing and what we are 
doing in terms of various policies in various spheres. We have worked 
and we will continue to work to continue to ensure the calm and maintain 
it. We are also intensifying our work in the field of security. We have 
taken active steps in imposing the rule of law and public order and ban 
armed demonstrations.
    Our measures are continuing to reinforce the judiciary branch, as 
well as the administrative reform. We have said, and we did during the 
last week start launching a series of economic projects in the 
infrastructure and in health and education and agriculture in both Gaza 
and the West Bank.
    And here I would like to salute the United States for its 
contribution and also the help that came from a variety of Arab 
countries and countries around the world. And we hope that all these 
projects will be activated by the donors' countries in order to increase 
the number of projects that our people are in need of.
    Our discussion of the overall situation in the region has afforded 
us the opportunity

[[Page 1563]]

to point out what we reaffirmed repeatedly through the past few weeks, 
on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization: We are determined 
not to interfere in domestic Lebanese affairs. We reiterate that the 
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are subject to the authority and the 
laws of Lebanon as temporary guests awaiting the resolution of the 
refugee problem in the accordance with the international resolutions.
    Mr. President, we reaffirm again here today our commitment to peace 
and negotiated settlement. We expect that our people's quest in this 
direction will be supported. The time has come to put an end to the 
Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The time has come that the Palestinian 
people will attain their freedom and independence. The time has come to 
move quickly towards the resumption of permanent status negotiations.
    Peace requires a departure from the policies of occupation and the 
adoption of the principle of freedom. Peace requires departure from the 
policies of settlements construction, the collective punishment, 
unilateral acts that undermine your vision toward two states and replace 
that with progress towards negotiations. Peace and security cannot be 
guaranteed by the construction of walls, by the erection of checkpoints, 
and the confiscation of land but rather by the recognition of rights.
    Peace cannot be attained by the enforcement of discriminatory road 
policies and by the policies of imposition and creation of facts on the 
ground but rather through belief in the principles of partnership, 
parity, and mutual respect.
    We are presenting, based on wide public support, our positions that 
call upon the Israeli side to join us in a real partnership for making 
peace. We are calling for a Palestinian-Israeli partnership for the sake 
of creating a better future and for the entire region that can end 
decades from wars, occupation, and open the doors wide open. We were 
promised peace, independence, and freedom, and we hope that all of this 
will be achieved.
    Mr. President, once again, I thank you, and reaffirm to you, as we 
did in our last visit, we are leaving Washington more sure and--more 
confidence of the possibility of reviving and resuming the peace process 
and more determined to forge ahead along with the path of peace, 
democracy, and freedom. Thank you, Mr. President.
    President Bush. We'll take two questions a side. Terry [Terence 
Hunt, Associated Press].

President's Agenda

    Q. Thank you. Mr. President, there are a lot of distractions for 
your White House, the CIA leak investigation, a conservative uproar and 
congressional criticism over the Harriet Miers nomination, and even 
investigations of top Republican leaders in Congress. How preoccupied is 
the White House by these problems, and how are you dealing with them?
    President Bush. Well, I've just finished a very constructive dialog 
with the President of the Palestinian Authority, talking about how to 
achieve peace.
    And I've got a job to do. Part of my job is to work with others to 
fashion a world that will be peaceful for future generations. And I've 
got a job to do to make sure this economy continues to grow. I've got a 
job to make sure that there is a plausible reconstruction plan for 
cities affected by Katrina. I've got a job to make sure this hurricane 
headed toward Florida is--the Federal response is prepared for it.
    So, to answer your question, there's some background noise here, a 
lot of chatter, a lot of speculation and opining. But the American 
people expect me to do my job, and I'm going to.
    Want to call on somebody, Mr. President. Oops. We've better go one 
at a time here.
    Q. President Bush----
    President Bush. Who do you work for?

Building Trust in the Middle East

    Q. AFP [Agence France Presse]. The roadmap that your administration 
backs calls for the creation of a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip 
and the West Bank.
    President Bush. Yes.
    Q. Yet, the Israelis' settlement activities, despite your repeated 
calls, included today, still continue in the West Bank. What is your 
administration planning to do to get Israel to put an end to those 
activities?

[[Page 1564]]

    And then, President Abbas----

[At this point, the reporter continued his question in Arabic, and his 
remarks were translated by an interpreter as follows.]

    ----what are the practical steps that they want Bush--President Bush 
to take in order to establish the Palestinian state before the end of 
his term?
    President Bush. As I said in my comments, and--that we expect all 
parties to adhere to the roadmap. And we are holding people to account 
on the pledges that both the Palestinians and the Israelis have made on 
the roadmap. And we do so publicly, and we do so privately.
    It's--a lot of these issues that have been, you know, very difficult 
for a long period of time become easier to resolve as there's more trust 
between the parties. And trust becomes a permanent part of the political 
process as action on the ground takes place. The Gaza withdrawal is a 
magnificent opportunity to help develop trust. It's an opportunity to 
develop trust between the Palestinians and the Israelis. And after all, 
the world watched strong cooperation between two willing governments to 
help the disengagement of Gaza, which is a, you know--right now, I 
guess, we take it all for granted.
    You look back--I think prior to the disengagement, there was a lot 
of consternation, a lot of concern. I suspect some of you might have 
even reported that, you know, ``Better watch out. This disengagement 
could end up being a very difficult period.'' And yet thanks to the 
President's leadership and Prime Minister Sharon's leadership, the 
disengagement worked, which established trust.
    The President has got an--a job, and that's to establish trust with 
the Palestinian people. He is a man who said, ``I'm running on a peace 
platform,'' and therefore, he has talked to us about using security 
forces to make sure that armed gangs don't disrupt the democratic 
process. And our job is to help him do that. And so to answer your 
question, yes, we hold people to account for their promises made on the 
roadmap. And many of those promises will be easier to keep for all 
parties as there's progress on the ground. And we have seen remarkable 
progress during the past year.
    And there's--and the progress isn't over this year. There will be 
elections. This is a very hopeful period. I'm very upbeat about being 
able to achieve this vision. I understand it's hard. Things don't happen 
overnight. Old feuds aren't settled immediately, and it takes awhile.
    The key thing, as far as I'm concerned, is that there are partners 
in peace. Prime Minister Sharon wants there to be peace. President Abbas 
wants there to be peace. And both men are showing strong leadership 
toward achieving that objective, and that's why I'm confident. I'm a 
heck of a lot more confident today than when--I was when I first came 
into office. I know it's nearly 5 years ago, and that's an eternity for 
some, but there has been remarkable progress in this part of the world. 
And we'll continue to work with the parties to achieve this important 
objective, two democratic states living side by side in peace.
    President Abbas. Thank you. The truth is, our answer to that 
question, we have to change the question: What are we supposed to do--as 
Palestinians and Israelis--to do.
    First of all, we have to work. We have to do our part. We have to 
think as partners. So many years passed by, more than 4 years we did not 
have any dialog. We did not have any talks. And now we have confidence. 
We need to rebuild and build on that confidence and on the relationship.
    And on our side, we are extending our hand to be a true partners in 
the peace process, and we hope that the Israeli side also will do the 
same, so we can do our parts. And what we ask President Bush to do is 
what he mentioned during his remarks, the roadmap and the achievement 
and the realization of his vision. The roadmap talks about settlements, 
about the barrier, all these issues that will facilitate the road to 
achieving true peace, and will facilitate building the confidence 
between the two peoples, the Israelis and the Palestinians.
    President Bush. Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters].

Associate Justice-Designate Harriet Miers

    Q. Thanks very much, sir. Senator Specter called the rollout of the 
Miers nomination

[[Page 1565]]

chaotic. Is that a fair criticism? Are you satisfied with the way the 
nomination has been handled? Would you be willing to release any more 
documents about her if it would help?
    President Bush. First of all, it's an unusual nomination because 
she's never been a judge. And so, generally, people are used to looking 
at different court opinions and how one ruled on this case or how one 
ruled on that case. That's not the case with Harriet.
    I picked Harriet for a lot of reasons. One reason was because she 
had never been a judge. I thought it made a lot of sense to bring a 
fresh outlook of somebody who has actually been a very successful 
attorney and not only a successful attorney but been a pioneer for women 
lawyers in Texas. I remind you that she was one of the top 50 women 
lawyers in the United States; she's consistently ranked that way. And so 
this is a little different process than the norm. I understand that.
    Secondly, the questionnaire that she filled out is an important 
questionnaire, and obviously they will address the questions that the 
Senators have in the questionnaire--or as a result of the answers to the 
questions in the questionnaire. But one thing the questionnaire does 
show, if people look at it carefully, is Harriet's judicial philosophy. 
And it's the main reason I picked her to serve on the bench, if 
confirmed, and that is that she is not going to legislate from the 
bench. She will strictly interpret the Constitution.
    I said that when I ran for President--I said, ``If you elect me, I 
will name people that will have that judicial philosophy.'' I've now had 
two chances, one, John Roberts, and now Harriet Miers. And they share 
the same judicial philosophy. That's what the questionnaire says.
    And so Harriet will answer all the questions asked, and--but out of 
this will come a clear picture of a competent, strong, capable woman who 
shares the same judicial philosophy that I share.
    Do you want to call on somebody, Mr. President?

Situation in the Middle East

    Q. Thank you, President Abbas. As President Bush referred and said, 
that the only way to achieve progress and the peace road is combating 
armed gangs. And you are facing difficulties in doing this. Are you 
going to seek help and support from American President George Bush, to 
help you in disarming the resistance movements?
    And President, you say you wanted to see the Palestinian state made 
before the end of your Presidency. Are you still hoping to see something 
like that? This is number one. Number two, don't you think the time has 
come for--to talk about timetables to get the two parties to the issues 
of final status negotiations?
    President Abbas. Regarding your questions, I am saying that we are 
truly in need of help from the United States in a variety of issues, 
economic issues and financial issues and also security support. And the 
reason is having General Ward among us, a man who has done a magnificent 
job, and we appreciate him and appreciate his work very much.
    Regarding the--our internal issues, we are following a policy. I 
believe it is a successful policy. When we started and we asked everyone 
to accept the hudna or the calming, all the organizations that are 
recognized accepted that. Then we moved into another phase, and that is 
the phase of banning all public demonstrations with firearms. All groups 
accepted that.
    Now, all groups are underway to the electoral process, so all groups 
will become a part of the political Palestinian fabric. I believe this 
will create a new phase in the life of Palestinian people. It's a phase 
of democracy and pluralism in full fledge in order to be a solid base 
for peace in the region.
    President Bush. I believe that two democratic states living side by 
side in peace is possible. I can't tell you when it's going to happen. 
It's happening. And the reason I can't is because there will be moments 
of progress, and there will be moments of setback. The key is to keep 
moving forward, is to have partners in peace to move forward.
    But one thing that will not happen is that we will try--the United 
States will try to conform and force parties to make decisions based 
upon the political schedule in America. That doesn't make any sense. 
What matters is the decisions made by the Palestinians and the Israelis 
and the confidence earned as we move forward.

[[Page 1566]]

    And so you said, ``I would like to see two states before I get out 
of office.'' Not true. I'd like to see two states. And if it happens 
before I get out of office, I'll be there to witness the ceremony. And 
if it hadn't--if it doesn't, we will work hard to lay that foundation so 
that the process becomes irreversible.
    Timetables are, you know, interesting--an interesting thing. 
Everybody wants a timetable, it seems like, on different issues. And 
these are very complicated matters where years of conflict and years of 
mistrust are being resolved by some basic truths. And one of the basic 
truths is free societies are peaceful societies. And so we can look 
forward to working with a partner in peace, a person who said, ``Vote 
for me. I'm for peace,'' and a man who declares his understanding that 
the Palestinian people, the long-suffering Palestinian people, will be 
well served by a democracy, a truly functioning democracy.
    And so, Mr. President, we're glad you're back. I want to thank you 
for your strong leadership, and we wish you all the very best. Thank 
you, sir. Appreciate you.

Note: The President's news conference began at 10:57 a.m. in the Rose 
Garden at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Lt. Gen. 
William E. ``Kip'' Ward, USA, Senior U.S. Security Coordinator, 
Department of State; James D. Wolfensohn, Quartet Special Envoy for Gaza 
Disengagement; and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel. President 
Abbas and some reporters spoke in Arabic, and their remarks were 
translated by an interpreter.