Speech to the People of Israel
(December 13, 1998)
Thank you very much. Let me begin by thanking the Prime
Minister for his leadership for peace and his leadership of Israel;
Mrs. Netanyahu, members of the Israeli Government; to the distinguished
American delegation here. I want to say a special word of appreciation
to the young man who spoke first, Ben Mayost. Didn't he do a good job?
[Applause]
This is my third trip to Jerusalem as President, my
third time in this magnificent hall, and the young woman who was with
me here last time on the stage, Liad Modrik, is also here. Thank you;
I'm really glad to see you.
I'd like to also thank this magnificent choir, the
Ankor Choir. Didn't they do a good job? They left, but they were great.
I understand we have students here from Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa,
Beer Sheva, Akko, and other cities. Welcome to you all.
We come here today to speak about the future of Israel
and the Middle East—your future. Six weeks ago Prime Minister
Netanyahu came to the United States to seek a new understanding with
the Palestinian Authority on the best way to achieve peace with security.
Today I come to Israel to fulfill a pledge I made to the Prime Minister
and to Chairman Arafat at Wye River, to speak to Israelis and Palestinians
about the benefits of peace, and to reaffirm America's determination
to stand with you as you take risks for peace.
The United States will always stand with Israel, always
remember that only a strong Israel can make peace. That is why we were,
after all, your partners in security before we were partners for peace.
Our commitment to your security is ironclad. It will not ever change.
The United States stood with Israel at the birth of
your nation, at your darkest hour in 1973, through the long battle against
terror, against Saddam Hussein's Scuds in 1991. And today, American
marines and Patriot missiles are here in Israel exercising with the
IDF. We have also stood with you as you reached out to your neighbors,
always recognizing that only Israelis can make final decisions about
your own future.
And as the Prime Minister said in his remarks about
education for peace, we agree that peace must begin with a genuine transformation
in attitudes. Despite all the difficulties, I believe that transformation
has begun. Palestinians are recognizing that rejection of Israel will
not bring them freedom, just as Israelis recognize that control over
Palestinians will not bring you security.
As a result, in just the last few years you have achieved
peace with Jordan, and the Arab world has accepted the idea of peace
with Israel. The boycotts of the past are giving way to a future in
which goods move across frontiers while soldiers are able to stay at
home. The pursuit of peace has withstood the gravest doubts. It has
survived terrorist bombs and assassins' bullets.
Just a short while ago, this afternoon, Hillary and
I visited the gravesite of Prime Minister Rabin with Mrs. Rabin, her
daughter, and granddaughter. He was killed by one who hoped to kill
the peace he worked so hard to advance. But the Wye memorandum is proof
that peace is still alive, and it will live as long as the parties believe
in it and work for it.
Of course, there have been setbacks, more misunderstandings,
more disagreements, more provocations, more acts of violence. You feel
Palestinians should prove in word and deed that their intentions have
actually changed, as you redeploy from land on which tears and blood
have been shed, and you are right to feel that.
Palestinians feel you should acknowledge they too have
suffered and they, too, have legitimate expectations that should be
met and, like Israel, internal political pressures that must be overcome.
And they are right, too.
Because of all that has happened and the mountain of
memories that has not yet been washed away, the road ahead will be hard.
Already, every step forward has been tempered with pain. Each time the
forces of reconciliation on each side have reached out, the forces of
destruction have lashed out. The leaders at Wye knew that. The people
of Israel know that.
Israel is full of good people today who do not hate
but who have experienced too much sorrow and too much loss to embrace
with joy each new agreement the peace process brings. As always, we
must approach the task ahead without illusions but not without hope,
for hope is not an illusion.
Every advance in human history, every victory for the
human spirit, every victory in your own individual lives begins with
hope, the capacity to imagine a better future, and the conviction that
it can be achieved. The people of Israel, after all, have beaten the
most impossible odds, overcome the most terrible evils on the way to
the Promised Land. The idea of the Promised Land kept hope alive. In
the remaining work to be done, the idea of peace and security in the
Promised Land must keep hope alive.
For all you young people today, under all the complexities
and frustrations of this moment, there lies a simple question: What
is your vision for your future? There can be only two ways to answer
that question. You could say that the only possible future for Israel
is one of permanent siege, in which the ramparts hold and people stay
alive, but the nation remains preoccupied with its very survival, subject
to gnawing anxiety, limited in future achievement by the absence of
real partnerships with your neighbors.
Perhaps you can live with that kind of future, but
you should not accept it unless you are willing to say—and I will
try to say properly—ein breira, there is no alternative. But if
you are not willing to say that, not willing to give up on hope with
no real gain in security, you must say, yesh, breira, there is an alternative.
If you are to build a future together, hard realities
cannot be ignored. Reconciliation after all this trouble is not natural.
The differences among you are not trivial. There is a history of heartbreak
and loss. But the violent past and the difficult present do not have
to be repeated forever.
In the historical relationship between Israelis and
Palestinians, one thing and only one thing is predestined: You are bound
to be neighbors. The question is not whether you will live side by side,
but how you will live side by side.
Will both sides recognize there can be no security
for either until both have security; that there will be no peace for
either until both have peace? Will both sides seize this opportunity
to build a future in which preoccupation with security, struggle, and
survival can finally give way to a common commitment to keep all our
young minds strong and unleash all your human potential?
Surely, the answer must be, yes. Israelis and Palestinians
can reach that conclusion sooner, reducing the pain and violence they
endure, or they can wait until later—more and more victims suffer
more loss—and ultimately, the conclusion must be the same.
Your leaders came to an agreement at Wye because a
majority of people on both sides have already said, "Now is the
time to change."
I want to talk just a little bit about this agreement
at Wye. It does not, by itself, resolve the fundamental problems that
divide Israelis and Palestinians. It is a means to an end, not the end
itself. But it does restore life to a process that was stalled for 18
months, and it will bring benefits that meet the requirements of both
sides if both sides meet their obligations. Wye is an opportunity for
both that must not be lost. Let me try to explain why.
Prime Minister Netanyahu went to Wye, rightly determined
to ensure that the security of Israeli citizens is protected as the
peace process moves forward. He fought hard, not to kill the peace but
to make it real for all those Israelis who only want to live normal
lives in their own country. And he succeeded in obtaining a set of systematic
Palestinian security commitments and a structure for carrying them out.
The Palestinian Authority agreed to a comprehensive
and continuous battle against terror. It pledged to combat terrorist
organizations, to crack down on unlicensed weapons, to take action against
incitement to terror. U.S.-Palestinian committees will be set up to
review specific actions the Palestinians are taking in each of these
areas and to recommend further steps. We also will submit to our Congress
a $1.2 billion package to help Israel meet its future security needs,
including those growing out of the redeployments agreed to at Wye.
The agreement can benefit Israel in another way. It
offers the prospect of continuing a process that is changing how most
Palestinians define their interests and their relationship with you.
More and more, Palestinians have begun to see that they have done more
to realize their aspirations in 5 years of making peace than in 45 years
of making war. They are beginning to see that Israel's mortal enemies
are, in fact, their enemies, too, and that is in their interests to
help to defeat the forces of terror.
This transformation, however, is clearly unfinished.
It will not happen overnight. There will be bumps in the road, and there
have been some already. The Palestinian leaders must work harder to
keep the agreement and avoid the impression that unilateral actions
can replace agreed-upon negotiations. But it is vital that you, too,
recognize the validity of this agreement and work to sustain it and
all other aspects of the peace process.
Tomorrow I go to Gaza to address the members of the
Palestinian National Council and other Palestinian organizations. I
will witness the reaffirmation of their commitment to forswear fully,
finally, and forever, all the provisions in their Charter that called
for the destruction of Israel.
I will also make it clear that with rights come responsibilities,
reminding people there that violence never was and never can be a legitimate
tool, that it would be wrong and utterly self-defeating to resume a
struggle that has taken Palestinians from one tragedy to another. I
will ask the Palestinian leaders to join me in reaffirming what the
vast majority of Muslims the world over believe, that tolerance is an
article of faith and terrorism a travesty of faith. And I will emphasize
that this conviction should echo from every Palestinian schoolhouse
and mosque and television tower.
I will point out, of course, all the ways in which
this Wye agreement benefits Palestinians: It provides for the transfer
of more territory, the redeployment of more Israeli troops, safe passage
between Gaza and the West Bank, the opening of the airport in Gaza,
other initiatives to lift their economic condition, and new commitments
of international assistance to improve the lives of the Palestinian
people.
In doing these things, this agreement benefits Israelis
as well, for it is in Israel's interest to give the Palestinian economy
space to breathe and the Palestinian people a chance to defeat the hopelessness
that extremists exploit to unleash their terror. And it is surely in
Israel's interest to deal with Palestinians in a way that permits them
to feel a sense of dignity instead of despair.
The peace process will succeed if it comes with a recognition
that the fulfillment of one side's aspirations must come with—not
at the expense of—the fulfillment of the other side's dreams.
It will succeed when we understand that it is not just about mutual
obligations but mutual interest, mutual recognition, mutual respect;
when all agree there is no sense in a tug-of-war over common ground.
It will succeed when we all recognize, as Prime Minister
Netanyahu and Chairman Arafat did at Wye, that ultimately this can and
must be a partnership between Israelis and Palestinians. It will succeed
if both sides continue the work that Wye makes possible, if they face
the hard decisions ahead so that the future continues to be shaped at
the negotiating table, rather than by unilateral acts or declarations.
We cannot, of course, expect everyone to see that.
There are still people in this region, indeed in every region, who believe
that their unique cultures can thrive only behind walls that keep out
those who are different, even if the price is mutual mistrust and hatred.
There are some who still talk openly about the "threat" of
peace because peacemaking requires making contact with the other side,
recognizing the legitimacy of different faiths and different points
of view, and openness to a world of competing ideas and values.
But I don't think that's the majority view in the Middle
East any longer. What once was a conflict among mainstreams is evolving
into a mainstream seeking peace. We must not let the conflict invade
the mainstream of Israel or of the Palestinians or of any other group
in this region again.
I believe you can not only imagine, you young people,
but actually shape the kind of partnership that will give you the future
you want. I think you can do it while protecting Israel's fundamental
interests. To anyone who thinks that is impossible, I would ask you
this: How many people thought Israel was possible when your grandparents
were just people searching for a land? Who would have imagined the marvel
Israel has become?
For decades, you lived in a neighborhood which rejected
you. Yet, you not only survived and thrived but held fast to the traditions
of tolerance and openness upon which this nation was founded. You were
forced to become warriors, yet you never lost the thirst to make peace.
You turned weakness into strength, and along the way, you built a partnership
with the United States that is enduring and unassailable.
Now Israel enters its second half-century. You have
nourished an ancient culture. You have built from the desert a modern
nation. You stand on the edge of a new century prepared to make the
very most of it. You have given your children a chance to grow up and
learn who they are, not just from stories of wandering and martyrdom
but from the happy memories of people living good lives in a natural
way. You have proven again and again that you are powerful enough to
defeat those who would destroy you but strong and wise enough to make
peace with those who are ready to accept you. You have given us every
reason to believe that you can build a future on hope that is different
from the past.
This morning the Prime Minister and Mrs. Netanyahu
and Hillary and I had breakfast together, and he said something to me
I'd like to repeat to you to make this point to all of you young people.
He said: You know, there are three great ancient civilizations in the
world—the Chinese civilization, the Indian civilization, and the
Jewish civilization—all going back 4,000 years or more. The Chinese
are 1.2 billion people; the Indians are nearly a billion people. To
be sure, they have suffered invasion, loss in war; in the Indian case,
colonization. But they have always had their land, and they have grown.
There are 12 million Jews in the world, driven from
their homeland, subject to Holocaust, subject to centuries of prejudice.
And yet, here you are. Here you are. If you can do this after 4,000
years, you can make this peace. Believe me, you can do this.
Years ago, before the foundation of Israel, Golda Meir
said of her people, and I quote, "We only want that which is given
naturally to all people of the world, to be masters of our own fate,
only our fate, not the destiny of others; to live as a right and not
on sufferance; to have the chance to bring the surviving Jewish children,
of whom not so many are left in the world now, to this country, so that
they may grow up like our youngsters who were born here, free of fear
with heads high."
This hope that all of us can live a life of dignity
when respecting the dignity of others is part of the heritage of values
Israel shares with the United States. On this, the first day of Hanukkah,
may this hope be the candle that lights Israel's path into the new century,
into a century of peace and security, with America always at your side.
Thank you, and God bless you.
Sources: Public Papers of the President |