    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 46 (Monday, November 20, 2006)]
    [Pages 2048-2051]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks Following Discussions With Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel
    and an Exchange With Reporters

    November 13, 2006

        President Bush. Mr. Prime Minister, welcome back to Washington. The
    Prime Minister and I had a fascinating discussion the last time he was
    here. We were sitting on the Truman Balcony. We spent probably an hour-
    and-a-half strategizing about how we can work together to achieve peace.
    Our conversation today continued this--that important dialog.
        I appreciate the Prime Minister's strategic thoughts. He cares
    deeply about his country, and he cares deeply about securing the peace.
    We talked about our commitment to a two-state solution. We talked about
    the need for a Palestinian Government to embrace the principles of the
    Quartet and the roadmap, which both our Governments strongly support.
        We spent a great deal of time on Iran and about how we can work
    together with other nations of the world to convince the Iranians to
    abandon their nuclear weapons ambitions. I recognize the threat to world
    peace that the Iranians propose, as does--that the Iranians pose, as
    does the Prime Minister. We talked about Iraq. We talked about a variety
    of issues.
        But the whole central thrust of our discussions was based upon our
    understanding that we're involved in an ideological struggle between
    extremists and radicals versus people who just simply want to live in
    peace, and that as democracies we have an obligation, obviously, to
    listen to the will of our people, but at the same time, work together to
    help those who want to live in a peaceful society achieve their
    ambitions.
        Mr. Prime Minister, it has been a delight to be with you again, and
    welcome back.
        Prime Minister Olmert. Thank you very much. President--there's
    nothing that I can add to the very accurate analysis that you made with
    regard to these big issues. We in the Middle East have followed the
    American policy in Iraq for a long time, and we are very much impressed
    and encouraged by the stability which the greatest operation of America
    in Iraq brought to the Middle East. And we pray and hope that this
    policy will be fully successful so that this stability which was created
    for all the moderate countries in the Middle East will continue.
        We shared thoughts about the Iranian threat. There is no question
    that the Iranian threat is not just a threat for Israel but for the
    whole world. The fanaticism and the extremism of the Iranian Government,
    and the fact that the leader of a nation such as Iran can threaten the
    very existence of another nation, as he does towards the State of
    Israel, is not something that we can tolerate or will ever tolerate, and
    certainly not when we know that he is trying to possess nuclear weapons.
    And I'm very encouraged by our discussion and thoughts that we have
    exchanged about what needs to be done in the Middle East, Mr. President.
        Finally, I say time and again, on different occasions, that we want
    to open a serious dialog with the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority,
    and I will make every possible effort to help Abu Mazen to get into such
    a dialog with us. Indeed, we hope that the new Government will be
    established soon on the basis of the Quartet and the roadmap, and that
    will allow an immediate contact between him

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    and me that I'm sure will lead into a serious negotiation process.
        And again, Mr. President, it's always a great joy to be your guest.
    And I always thank you for your friendship--your personal friendship
    and, even more important, your friendship for the State of Israel.
        President Bush. Thank you, sir. We'll answer two questions a side.
    Tom [Tom Raum, Associated Press].

    Iraq Study Group

        Q. Mr. President, the Senate--the incoming Senate Democratic leaders
    have called for a phased withdrawal of troops from Iraq. You met this
    morning with the Baker commission. Would you accept any solution that
    included a timetable, and what options did you discuss this morning with
    the Baker commission?
        President Bush. Tom, I'm not going to prejudge the Baker
    commission's report. I was pleased to meet with them. I was impressed by
    the quality of the--of their membership. I was impressed by the
    questions they asked. They are--they want us to succeed in Iraq, just
    like I want to succeed.
        And so we had a really good discussion. I'm not sure what the report
    is going to say. I'm looking forward to seeing it. I believe this: I
    believe that it's important for us to succeed in Iraq, not only for our
    security but for the security of the Middle East, and that I'm looking
    forward to interesting ideas. In the meantime, General Pete Pace is
    leading investigations within the Pentagon as to how to reach our goal,
    which is success--a government which can sustain, govern, and defend
    itself and will serve as an ally in this war on terror.
        I believe it is very important, though, for people making
    suggestions to recognize that the best military options depend upon the
    conditions on the ground.
        And so it's an interesting period here in Washington, Mr. Prime
    Minister. You might realize the opposition party won--won the Senate and
    the House. And what's interesting is, is that they're beginning to
    understand that with victory comes responsibilities. And I'm looking
    forward to working with the Democrats to achieve common objectives.

    Syria-Israel Relations

        Q. Mr. President, do you see any change in the administration's
    position regarding Syria? Do you support the resumption of Israeli-
    Syrian negotiations? And the same question to the Prime Minister, if I
    may. In the past, you rejected the resumption of the Syrian and Israeli
    negotiations under--one of the reasons was the rejection of the American
    administration regarding the policies of Syria. Do you see now, after
    you discuss this matter with the President, any change in your position
    regarding Syria?
        President Bush. My answer to your question is, Prime Minister Olmert
    knows how to run his own foreign policy. And he can figure out his
    policy towards them. My policy towards Syria is this: That we expect the
    Syrians to be, one, out of Lebanon so that the Lebanese democracy can
    exist; two, not harboring extremists that create--that empower these
    radicals to stop the advance of democracies; three, to help this young
    democracy in Iraq succeed. And the Syrian President knows my position.
    We have told that to him through my administration. We do have an
    Embassy there in Syria. But our position is very clear, and we would
    like to see some progress toward peace from the Syrians.
        Prime Minister Olmert. I share the same opinion with President Bush.
    We are not against negotiations with Syria. We would love to be able to
    have negotiations with Syria, but that must be based on a certain
    reasonable, responsible policy, which is not preformed by Syria for the
    time being. Everything that they are doing is to the other direction--in
    Lebanon, in Iraq, and the sponsorship of Hamas and Khaled Meshal as the
    main perpetrators of terror against the State of Israel. With some
    changes in the Russian--I'm sorry, in the Syrian attitude on these major
    issues, I hope that one day the conditions for contacts between them and
    us will be created. But to be honest, I don't think at the present time
    they manifest any such attitude. And that makes it impossible.
        President Bush. Matt [Matthew Spetalnick, Reuters].

    Iran/Nuclear Weapons Development

        Q. Yes. Mr. President, Tony Blair today is going to be calling for a
    reaching out to

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    both Syria and Iran to help calm the situation in Iraq. What is your
    response to that?
        President Bush. I haven't seen his comments, but you just heard my
    response on Syria. And my comments on Iran is this: If the Iranians want
    to have a dialog with us, we have shown them a way forward, and that is
    for them to verify--verifiably suspend their enrichment activities. We
    put that proposal on the table awhile back. We said that if you want to
    have a dialog with us, we're willing to come to the table with the EU,
    as well as Russia and China, to discuss a way forward. But first, you
    must verifiably suspend your enrichment activities.
        Our focus of this administration is to convince the Iranians to give
    up its nuclear weapons ambitions. And that focus is based upon our
    strong desire for there to be peace in the Middle East. And an Iran with
    a nuclear weapon would be a destabilizing influence. And so we have made
    it very clear, our position in regards Iran, and it hasn't changed.
        Q. Mr. President, do you think that it's better to impose sanctions
    on Iran or to handle dialog with them?

    [At this point, a reporter asked a question in Hebrew, and no
    translation was provided.]

        President Bush. I think it's very important for the world to unite
    with one common voice to say to the Iranians that, ``If you choose to
    continue forward, you'll be isolated.'' And one source of isolation
    would be economic isolation. In other words, there has to be a
    consequence for their intransigence. They have--we went to the United
    Nations; we made it very clear--``we'' being a lot of the world--have
    made it clear that the Iranian nuclear weapons ambitions are not in the
    world's interest. And therefore, if they continue to move forward with a
    program, there has to be a consequence. And a good place to start is
    working together to isolate the country.
        And my hope is, is that there are rational people inside the
    Government that recognize isolation is not in their country's interest.
    And I also, when I speak about Iran, speak about a government, not about
    the Iranian people. I believe the Iranian people want a better way
    forward. I don't think they want to confront the world. I believe they
    need--I believe they could benefit by more trade and more openness with
    the world. But their leaders have to make the decision, and the decision
    is abundantly clear to them. And I say this in the interest of world
    peace, that if Iran has a nuclear weapon, it will be incredibly
    destabilizing and obviously threatening to our strong ally.
        And so my attitude is: Let's work in concert to convince the
    Government that it's not just the Israeli voices speaking or the United
    States voices speaking, but there's a lot of other voices saying the
    exact same thing, and present them with a choice.
        Assistant Press Secretary John Deckard. Thank you all.
        President Bush. Wait a minute. That seems a little unfair. He's got
    a strong answer coming--I can feel it. [Laughter]
        Prime Minister Olmert. She said it in Hebrew, and you can't blame
    him; he didn't understand the Hebrew part of the question. I'll answer
    in Hebrew for the Israeli voters.
        President Bush. Sure.

    [Prime Minister Olmert spoke in Hebrew, and no translation was
    provided.]

        Prime Minister Olmert. And again, I want to thank you, President
    Bush, for being so gracious to me and to the State of Israel.
        President Bush. Yes, sir. Proud to have you here.
        Thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:45 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to James A. Baker III, cochair, Iraq
    Study Group; and President Bashar al-Asad of Syria. Prime Minister
    Olmert referred to President Mahmud Ahmadi-nejad of Iran; President
    Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) of the Palestinian Authority; and Khaled
    Meshal, leader of the Hamas terrorist organization. A reporter referred
    to Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom.

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