[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 48 (Monday, December 3, 2007)]
[Page 1531]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Prior to a Meeting With President Mahmoud Abbas of the 
Palestinian Authority

November 26, 2007

    President Bush. Mr. President, welcome.

    President Abbas. Thank you.

    President Bush. It's good to have you back here in the Oval Office. 
Thank you for coming, and thank you for working hard to implement a 
vision for a Palestinian state.

    We want to help you. We want there to be peace. We want the people 
in the Palestinian Territories to have hope. And we thank you for your 
willingness to sit down with Israel to negotiate the settlement.

    The United States cannot impose our vision, but we can help 
facilitate. And the process will begin tonight at the State Department 
and then on to Annapolis tomorrow. And I want to thank you for coming. 
Wish you all the very best.

    President Abbas. I am delighted to have the opportunity to meet with 
President Bush after his invitation and this historic initiative that he 
launched to convene the Annapolis conference. We have a great deal of 
hope that this conference will produce a permanent status negotiations, 
expanded negotiations over all permanent status issues that would lead 
to a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian people, an 
agreement to secure security and stability.

    President Bush's initiative is a great initiative. We will continue 
to rely on his support and the support of the United States and his 
administration in order to achieve the intended objective. Thank you.

    President Bush. Thank you, sir.

Note: The President spoke at 1:11 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. President Abbas spoke in Arabic, and his remarks were translated 
by an interpreter.