Remarks on the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of
Principles
(October 10, 1993)
The President. Ladies and gentlemen, today marks a
shining moment of hope for the people of the Middle East and, indeed,
of the entire world. The Israelis and the Palestinians have now agreed
upon a declaration of principles on interim self-government that opens
the door to a comprehensive and lasting settlement.
This declaration represents an historic and honorable
compromise between two peoples who have been locked in a bloody struggle
for almost a century. Too many have suffered for too long. The agreement
is a bold breakthrough. The Palestinian Liberation Organization openly
and unequivocally has renounced the use of violence and has pledged
to live in peace with Israel. Israel, in turn, has announced its recognition
of the PLO.
I want to express my congratulations and praise for
the courage and the vision displayed by the Israeli and Palestinian
leadership and for the crucially helpful role played by Norway.
For too long the history of the Middle East has been
defined in terms of violence and bloodshed. Today marks the dawning
of a new era. Now there is an opportunity to define the future of the
Middle East in terms of reconciliation and coexistence and the opportunities
that children growing up there will have whether they are Israeli or
Palestinian.
I want to express the full support of the United States
for this dramatic and promising step. For more than a quarter of a century
our Nation has been directly engaged in efforts to resolve the Middle
East conflict. We have done so because it reflects our finest values
and our deepest interests, our interests in a stable Middle East where
Israelis and Arabs can live together in harmony and develop the potential
of their region, which is tremendous. From Camp David to Madrid to the
signing ceremony that will take place at the White House on Monday,
administration after administration has facilitated this difficult but
essential quest. From my first day in office, Secretary Christopher
and I have made this a priority. We are resolved to continue this process
to achieve a comprehensive Arab-Israeli resolution.
In 1990, the United States suspended the U.S.-PLO dialog
begun 2 years earlier following an act of terrorism committed against
Israel by a faction of the PLO. Yesterday Yasser Arafat wrote to Prime
Minister Rabin, committing the PLO to accept Israel's right to exist
in peace and security, to renounce terrorism, to take responsibility
for the actions of its constituent groups, to discipline those elements
who violate these new commitments, and to nullify key elements of the
Palestinian covenant that denied Israel's right to exist. These PLO
commitments justify a resumption of our dialog. As a result and in light
of this week's events, I have decided to resume the dialog and the contacts
between the United States and the PLO.
The path ahead will not be easy. These new understandings,
impressive though they are, will not erase the fears and suspicions
of the past. But now the Israelis and the Palestinians have laid the
foundations of hope. The United States will continue to be a full and
an active partner in the negotiations that lie ahead, to ensure that
this promise of progress is fully realized.
All the peoples of the Middle East deserve the blessings
of peace. I pledge to join them in our help and our support to achieve
that objective. I look forward to joining with Russia, our cosponsor
in the Middle East peace process, and with the people of the world in
witnessing the historic signing on Monday.
I also want to say I am very grateful for the overwhelming
support this agreement has generated among members of both parties in
the United States Congress. I especially thank leaders in the Congress
from both parties who have foreign policy responsibilities who have
come to meet with me this morning in the White House, many of whom have
stayed on for this statement.
This is a time for bipartisan support for this agreement
and, indeed, a bipartisan effort to reassert and define America's role
in a very new world. We were talking today in our meeting about how
this period is not unlike the late 1940's, a time in which America was
the first nation to recognize Israel, in which we formed the United
Nations and other international institutions in an attempt to work toward
the world which everyone hoped would follow from World War II.
Once again we must develop a strong philosophy and
a practical set of institutions that can permit us to follow our values
and our interests and to work for a more peaceful, a more humane, and
a more democratic world. This is an enormous step toward that larger
goal. And I think all Americans should be grateful for the opportunity
that we have been presented to help to make this historic peace work.
Sources: Public Papers of the President |