Speech at the Signing Ceremony for the Israel-Jordan
Washington Declaration
(July 25, 1994)
Your Majesties, Prime Minister and Mrs. Rabin, distinguished
guests: Today we gather to bear witness to history. As this century
draws to a close, a new era of peace opens before us in ancient lands
as brave men choose reconciliation over conflict. Today our faith is
renewed.
As we write a new chapter in the march of hope over
despair on these grounds and at this historic table, we remember the
courage of Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin and the leadership of President
Carter at Camp David 15 years ago, the efforts of President Bush to
bring Israel and her neighbors together in Madrid 2 years ago, and that
shining September day last year when Prime Minister Rabin and Chairman
Arafat declared that their two peoples would fight no more.
Today, in that same spirit, King Hussein and Prime
Minister Rabin will sign the Washington Declaration. After generations
of hostility, blood, and tears, the leaders of the Hashemite Kingdom
of Jordan and the State of Israel will solemnly declare, with the world
as their witness, that they have ended the state of belligerency between
them. From this day forward, they pledge to settle their differences
by peaceful means. Both countries will refrain from actions that may
adversely affect the security of the other and will thwart all those
who would use terrorism to threaten either side.
The Washington Declaration is the product of much hard
work. Less then a year ago, Crown Prince Hassan of Jordan and Foreign
Minister Peres of Israel met here publicly for the first time. Together,
with the wise counsel and persistent energy of the Secretary of State,
Warren Christopher, Israel and Jordan have pursued peace. And we are
all in their debt.
It takes but a minute or two to cross the River Jordan,
but for as long as most of us can remember, the distance has seemed
immense. The awful power of ancient arguments and the raw wounds of
recent wars have left generations of Israelis, Jordanians, and Palestinians
unable to imagine, much less build, a life of peace and security. Today
King Hussein and Prime Minister Rabin give their people a new currency
of hope and the chance to prosper in a region of peace.
Under the Washington Declaration, Jordan and Israel
have agreed to continue vigorous negotiations to produce a treaty of
peace based on Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. King Hussein
and Prime Minister Rabin will meet as often as necessary to shepherd
and personally direct those negotiations. Their objective is a just,
lasting, and comprehensive peace between Israel and all its neighbors,
a peace in which each acknowledges and respects the territorial integrity
and political independence of all others and their right to live in
peace within secure and recognized boundaries.
In the meantime, Jordan and Israel have decided to
take immediate steps to normalize relations and resolve disputes in
areas of common concern. They have agreed to survey the international
border based on the work of their boundary subcommission. They have
resolved that negotiations on water resources should aim to establish
the rightful allocation between the two sides of the waters of the Jordan
and Yarmuk Rivers. They have determined that their police forces will
cooperate in combating crime, with a special emphasis on drug smuggling.
They have set up as their joint purpose the abolition of all economic
boycotts and the establishment of a bilateral economic cooperation.
And as of today, Jordan and Israel have agreed to take
the first practical steps to draw their people together and to let the
peoples of the world share in the wonders of their lands. They will
establish direct telephone links, connect their two nations' electricity
grids, open two border crossings between their nations, including one
at Aqaba and Eilat and another in the north, accelerate the negotiations
aimed at opening an international air corridor between the two countries,
and give free access to third-country tourists traveling between their
two nations. These are the building blocks of a modern peace and ancient
holy lands.
Your Majesty, after our first meeting, you wrote me
a heartfelt letter in which you referred to your revered grandfather
King Abdullah. You told me that his untimely assassination at the entrance
to Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque had come at a time when he was intent
on making peace with Israel. Had he completed his mission, you said
to me, your region would have been spared four decades of war. Today,
43 years later, Abdullah's grandson has fulfilled his legacy. And in
the declaration you will sign, your role as guardian of Jerusalem's
Muslim holy sites, Al Aqsa among them, has been preserved. And Israel
has agreed to accord a high priority to Jordan's historic role regarding
these holy sites in final status negotiations.
Prime Minister, when you first visited me in the White
House, you spoke eloquently of your soldier's life, defending and guiding
your nation through four bloody decades of struggling to survive. You
told me your people had had enough bloodshed, that this was time to
make peace. Ten months ago, you stood on this same lawn and shook the
hand of Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestinian people. Today you
stand together with King Hussein, descendant of the Prophet Mohammed,
to declare that Jordan and Israel have ended their conflict. In holding
out to your people the hope of a normal, secure life, you, sir, have
fulfilled the mission of your life and of all those who have fought
by your side for so long.
Now as we go forward, we must guard against illusions.
Dark forces of hatred and violence still stalk your lands. We must not
let them succeed.
King Hussein, Prime Minister Rabin, as you and your
people embark on this journey of peace, we know the road will not be
easy. Just as we have supported you in coming this far, the United States
will walk the final miles with you. We must all go on until we ensure
that the peace you are seeking prevails in the Holy Land and extends
to all Israel's Arab neighbors. Our common objective of a comprehensive
peace must be achieved.
Now as we witness the signing of this declaration and
applaud the bravery of these men, let us remember that peace is much
more than a pledge to abide by words on a page. It is a bold attempt
to write a new history. Guided by the blessings of God, let us now go
forward and give life to this declaration. For if we follow its course,
we will truly achieve a peace of the generations.
Thank you very much.
Sources: Public Papers of the President |