Statement Following Talks With Israeli PM Netanyahu &
Yasser Arafat
(October 15, 1998)
Middle East Peace Process
The President. Good morning. I am pleased to welcome
Prime Minister Netanyahu, Chairman Arafat, and their delegations.
For 17 months, the Middle East peace process has been
stalled, placing in jeopardy all that Israelis and Palestinians have
achieved together since the Oslo accords. This week's talk at Wye River
offer the chance for the parties to break the logjam and finally take
the next essential steps for peace in the Middle East. We must remember
as we come together again that in the end, peace is more than a process.
It is, in the end, a destination. These two leaders have the power to
lead their people to peace.
As I said to Prime Minister Netanyahu and Chairman
Arafat only a few moments ago, I believe there are certain realities
that underlie these negotiations. First, Israelis and Palestinians are
neighbors, and what they must do, they must do together, or it will
not be done at all. Second, mutual respect and understanding is required
for any meaningful and enduring agreement. Otherwise, there can be no
honorable, principled compromise.
As in any difficult problem, neither side can expect
to win a hundred percent of every point. But concessions that seem hard
now will seem far less important in the light of an accord that moves
Israelis and Palestinians closer to lasting peace, closer to a day when
the people of Israel can have the safety and security they have been
denied for too long, closer to the day when Palestinian people can realize
their aspirations to be free and secure and able to shape their own
political and economic destiny.
There remain enemies of this peace, extremists on both
sides who feel threatened by the peace and will be tempted once again
to kill it with violence. We can defeat that kind of threat by building
a genuine Israeli-Palestinian partnership that will stand the test of
time.
Too much time has already been lost. The issues on
the table at Wye River are very important, and more difficult issues
lie ahead in the implementation of any agreement the parties may reach
and in the permanent status talks for a just and lasting peace in the
region.
Secretary Albright and the Vice President and I and
our entire team will do everything we can to make peace possible, at
Wye River and beyond. But in the end, it is up to the leaders standing
with me today, to their courage, their vision, their determination,
and a shared understanding that the future has to be a shared in peace.
I hope you and my fellow Americans and the world will
wish them, and all of us, well in these next few days.
Thank you very much.
Q. Mr. President, can a Palestinian state be achieved
by 1999?
The President. Let me say—I know there are many
questions—we have discussed this. There is so much work to be
done, and all three of us have determined that we should not at this
moment take questions but that we should get about the business at hand.
And as we make progress and if we've got something really good to say
to you, then there'll be plenty of time for a lot of questions and answers.
But for right now, we think it's time to go to work.
Thank you very much.
Sources: Public Papers of the President |