News Conference With Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin of Israel
(March 16, 1994)
The President. Mr. Prime Minister, friends, we come
together today at an important time for the Middle East. We are closer
to a lasting peace than would have been thought only a year ago. Yet
we are further from that peace than we expected to be only a month ago.
The events of the past several weeks have demonstrated
the risks in this great undertaking. The bloodshed in Hebron was a tragic
reminder that the forces of reaction will lash out whenever peace becomes
a real possibility. We must not let the enemies of peace triumph. We
must not allow them to deny Israel and its neighbors a future of hope.
And that is why I applaud Prime Minister Rabin's courageous stance against
militant extremism. And it is why I have called upon the Prime Minister
and Chairman Arafat to find a way to resume negotiations and to do so
quickly.
Today we discussed ways to put the Israeli-Palestinian
negotiations back on track. We agreed on the need for concrete measures
to ensure security for Palestinians as well as for Israelis and for
rapid implementation of the Declaration of Principles to give Palestinians
control over their own affairs and well-being.
In our meeting, the Prime Minister and I also discussed
ways to make 1994 a year of breakthrough in the negotiations between
Israel and Syria. This would not only help bolster the agreement already
achieved with the Palestinians, it would also help advance our overall
objective of a comprehensive peace, one that encompasses Jordan and
Lebanon as well.
President Asad spoke in Geneva of his strategic choice
for peace with Israel. Prime Minister Rabin told me today that peace
with Syria is a strategic imperative. These two leaders have a great
responsibility to the people of their region. As a full partner in the
process, the U.S. stands ready to help them achieve that lasting peace
that can end the Israeli-Arab conflict and transform the Middle East.
The Prime Minister and I agreed that as the region
turns to the business of establishing peace, the Arab boycott of Israel
must end. It is a relic of the past, born of animosity and exclusion.
For all the peoples of the Middle East to prosper, economic barriers
and isolation must yield to dialog and cooperation.
During our meeting today, we also discussed what the
United States can do to maintain and enhance Israel's security as it
continues to take real risks to achieve peace. We talked about ways
the U.S. could help Israel defend against long-term threats to its security.
And I reaffirm my commitment to work with Congress to maintain our present
levels of assistance and to consider how we might help Israel defray
the costs of peace. We've also pledged to do whatever we can to help
resolve the cases of Israeli MIA's.
Since the beginning of this administration, the Prime
Minister and I have worked to promote the common interest and values
our nations share. Today we are working closely together on such issues,
including those which now confront the U.N. Security Council. Our efforts
have one common purpose, maintaining the principles we both share while
doing all we can to promote peace.
This is an historic moment for Israel. And I am profoundly
aware, Mr. Prime Minister, of the great burdens you are bearing in your
search for peace. You have the admiration and respect of the entire
United States and our Nation's pledge of support and steadfast friendship.
As we approach Passover, a time to celebrate freedom
and redemption, let us dedicate ourselves to a season of new beginnings
and turn our gauge to the future to make it a future of peace.
Thank you.
Prime Minister Rabin. Mr. President, the Vice President,
Secretary of State, dear friends, it was important and worthwhile to
meet today with the President and his team, to know and appreciate what
we have known for a long time, the friendship and trust between our
two countries are profound and now as good if not better than they have
ever been. We could not ask for more.
For this, Mr. President, please accept our gratitude.
It is good to know that a great nation blessed with values and democracy
stands with us for the greatest battle still to come, the battle for
peace.
Mr. President, a few months ago, I stood here with
you and many others at an historic occasion. We arrived at the beginning
of the end of the bloody struggle that has lasted for 100 years. It
was clear from the beginning that in spite of the good will on all sides,
it would be difficult to bridge in days or in months differences in
positions, perceptions, points of view, and hatred that have devastated
and grown over so many decades. But we shall overcome these difficulties
and reach the day of peace. We shall remain determined in our goal.
In our talks today, I told you, Mr. President, that
in my view, we were near the finish line of the talks with the Palestinians
on the first stage of the Gaza-Jericho first. Some problems and details
have yet to be solved. I am sure that we shall find the right solution
once the negotiations are renewed. We will not let the extremists derail
the peace process.
On behalf of the state of Israel, I condemn the terrible
terms of the killing in Hebron. I repeated this today in our conversation.
Since that time, the Government of Israel has taken tough measures that
are unprecedented in Israel. We will implement them with determination.
But, Mr. President, we are also victims of terror,
whether organized or spontaneous. Our women and children have lived
in the shadow of terror for decades. Not a week passes that we don't
have to bury our dead. And if only for this reason, we don't think it
appropriate to wage new demands after every terrorist attack. Security
is a two-way street. Real leadership must rise above the realities of
the day, even if they are painful and bloody, in order to arrive at
our strategic goal. Peace is not a tactical option but a strategic objective
which takes precedence over everything else.
With you, Mr. President, I call on Chairman Arafat
of the PLO to resume talks immediately and act like me, to fight terror
as if there were no negotiations and conduct the negotiations as if
there was not terror.
We have to complete the negotiations so that in the
spring or in early summer, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of
Palestinians in Gaza and Jericho will at last be able to conduct their
own affairs. We don't seek to rule them anymore.
Mr. President, there is no time to waste. We feel that
the window of opportunity that opened after the Gulf war is narrower
than we thought. Time is running out. Therefore, 1994 has to be the
year of great decisions in the peace process. In this framework we spoke
of the options that can be presented to President Asad in order to achieve
peace with Syria. I hope that President Asad will respond appropriately,
and we shall be able to sign a peace treaty by the end of this year.
President Asad said that Syria had made the strategic choice for peace
with Israel. That was encouraging. Peace with Syria has always been
our strategic choice. We recognize the importance of Syria to a comprehensive
peace in the area. We are ready to negotiate peace with Syria that takes
account of our mutual needs and interests. There must be give and take
on both sides.
We know that as we engage in serious and authoritative
negotiations, the point will come where painful decisions will have
to be made. The promise of peace and its genuine benefits for all Israelis
justifies making such decisions vis-a-vis Syria. We will not compromise
on our security. But we will stand ready to do what is required of us
if the Syrians are ready to do what is required of them.
At the same time, we would like to promote and advance
the negotiations with Jordan as well as with Lebanon. We are hopeful
that with them, too, treaties of peace can be achieved this year.
All of us know the time for the Arab boycott of Israel,
a remnant of a period of hate and rejection, should be lifted. Mr. President,
Prime Ministers of Israel have come in the past with impressive shopping
lists. On my list today, I have one item alone, the pursuit of peace.
As Passover, our feast of freedom, is approaching,
let me take the opportunity to remind all of us of the fate of the Israeli
soldiers missing in action and prisoners of war. I would like to thank
the President for the United States support in this regard and express
the hope that Passover will also be a time of redemption for them. Mr.
President, thank you very much.
The President. Thank you.
Middle East Peace Process
Q. Mr. Prime Minister, since security is a two-way
street, what do you plan to do to wipe out the acknowledged double standard
in the treatment of Palestinians? And also, if you're willing to make
peace with Syria, Lebanon, Jordan now why don't you make the quantum
leap and go for permanent negotiations on peace with Palestinians instead
of the step-by-step, very slow struggle of the peace process that means
more strife?
Prime Minister Rabin. First, about the second question.
You have to refer to the letter of invitation to the Madrid peace conference.
This letter of invitation served as the basis agreed on by all the parties
that were invited to the Madrid peace conference and the negotiations
that followed this conference.
What was written there that the purpose of the negotiations
with the three neighboring Arab countries beyond Egypt would be to achieve
peace treaties and with the Palestinians to move by two phases. Phase
number one, something that was never offered to the Palestinians in
the past, not by Jordan when Jordan was in occupation of the West Bank,
not by Egypt when Egypt was in occupation of the Gaza Strip, we offered
them self-rule to run their own affairs, to have a Palestinian council,
self-governing authority as an interim agreement.
What was agreed in signing between the PLO and us in
the Declaration of Principles that was signed on the lawns of the White
House? We divided the phases by agreement to Gaza-Jericho first; then
to create the overall arrangement, and not later than 2 years after
the completion of the implementation of Gaza-Jericho first, to start
negotiating a permanent solution.
I believe that sometimes what might look the shortest
way is the longest and the one that will not lead to a change in the
realities. Therefore, we are committed to the letter of invitation to
the Madrid peace conference. We are committed to the Declaration of
Principles that was signed here between the PLO and Israel. We are committed
to the Cairo agreement that was reached between the PLO and Israel.
And I believe to be committed to agreements that were reached is a basic
precondition for the efforts to reach more agreements.
Second, you talked about different situations. Let's
face it, most of the terror attacks are aimed against Israelis. We,
the Government of Israel, in accordance to the international law, are
the sovereign, true military government of the territories. It's our
responsibility for the safety, the welfare of all the residents, Jews
and Palestinian alike. This government, as a result of the terrible
tragedy that took place in Hebron, has taken measures that are unprecedented
in Israel vis-a-vis those who violate the law.
But we are a lawful country. I can give you an example.
I used my responsibility as a Minister of Defense—orders for administering
detention of two Israeli residents, not the territories. But in accordance
to our laws, they have to be approved by a president of a district court.
I ordered administrative detention for 3 months. The president of the
district court reduced it to 6 days. I cannot violate the verdict of
the court. Whatever the government does comes under the supervision
and decision of our courts.
I believe that many people in Israel believe that what
we have done is almost encroaching the line of the law. But we are determined
to do within the law whatever is needed to fight terrorism from whatever
direction it will come.
The President. The question from the Israeli press.
Q. The two alternative issues—[inaudible]—Jerusalem
and settlements, are now de facto on the table. Do you agree that they
should wait until the final stage or should you tackle them right now?
The President. You are asking me?
Q. I am asking both of you, Mr. President and Mr. Prime
Minister.
The President. Well, in terms of the resolution of
Jerusalem, the position of the United States has not changed. But that
is a matter for the parties to decide in accord with the declaration.
It is something to be ultimately decided at a later point. That's what
we think should be done.
Prime Minister Rabin. My answer is basically simple.
We signed here in Washington the Declaration of Principles. It is written
very clearly there that issues that have to be settled once we negotiate
permanent solution will not be dealt with now. And it is written very
clearly as examples for this kind of issue: Jerusalem, settlements,
borders, refugees and others. Therefore, by agreement with the PLO,
these issues will be dealt with when we negotiate permanent solutions.
Terry [Terence Hunt, Associated Press].
China
Q. Mr. President, I'd like to ask you about China.
There are growing calls for the United States to de-link the issues
of trade and human rights. Former Secretaries of State Vance and Kissinger
say the United States has to pay attention to human rights but that
it also has to have a pragmatic approach. What are you getting out of
your current strategy or your current approach to China? And are you
thinking about changing it?
The President. Well, I think you can safely assume
that we have been and will continue to be spending a good deal of time
on the issue of our relationships with China, that our policy is what
it has been, that human rights are important, but the other issues are
important, too. And I'm confident that we will be able to work through
this and strengthen our relationship and our advocacy of human rights
over the long run. That's what I think will happen, and we've got some
time to do that. And I think you'll see an enormous effort coming out
of this administration to try to achieve both those objectives.
Is there another question from the Israeli press?
Middle East Peace Process
Q. Mr. President, are you going to urge the President
of Syria to meet with the Israeli Prime Minister? And did you ask the
Israeli Prime Minister the question, if Israel will be ready to leave
the Golan Heights to get peace with Syria?
The President. We had quite an extended conversation
about this issue, and I believe that the Prime Minister very much wants
to make peace with Syria. I talked with President Asad just a few days
ago. I'm convinced he wants to make peace with Israel. Since I think
both of them want to make peace with each other, the best thing for
me to do is not to say anything which will make their task more difficult.
Q. But we need details, Mr. President.
The President. Yes, but they can't come from me.
Q. Mr. President, I'm wondering if you could describe
what your view is of the concrete measures that you mentioned early
on in your remarks that should be taken to keep peace in Israel, and
whether or not you would support the PLO idea for a police force in
Hebron?
The President. I think the Prime Minister would like
to respond to that also, but let me say, Israel has accepted responsibility
on the security issue for law and order, if you will. And even the United
Nations in the draft that is being circulated has reaffirmed that. Within
that broad framework, I think there are a number of options which can
be pursued to deal with this issue. And I think the Israelis have an
obligation, as I have said, to come up with some specific initiatives
for reassurance on this.
I also think it is important for the PLO not to use
this as an excuse not to return to the peace talks. I think the Prime
Minister is doing what he can to demonstrate his good faith, has been
very firm in reaction to the massacre in Hebron. There are some specifics
that have been discussed. I think they will be forthcoming. But I don't
think that we should get the two so mixed up that the whole future of
the Middle East is, in effect, put on hold.
You like to——
Q. So does that mean you don't support the PLO's presence
there, sir?
The President. Well, that's not what I said.
Prime Minister Rabin. Well, allow me first to make
it clear. In the agreement, once it will be reached and signed, there
is a building—in the past it was 8,000 to 9,000 men as a Palestinian
police force in Gaza and Jericho. If by now agreement has been reached,
by now there would have been 8,000, 9,000 Palestinian policemen in Gaza
and Jericho. The more the negotiations are postponed, the longer it
will take them to come.
Second, even if there will be some Palestinian police—and
there were in the past, at least 900 Palestinian police in the territories
were Palestinian residents of the territories in Hebron and in Ramallah
and in—[inaudible]. They resigned because of the Intifada. As
long as ours is the overall responsibility for the territories under
the military government, using our civil administration, their presence
will not relieve us from our overall responsibility.
Therefore, we have to look at it in the context of
what is our international and practical responsibility. We, as long
as agreement will not be reached that will cover all these areas with
the PLO, we will remain internationally responsible to the security
of all those who reside there, if there will be or will not be part
of any Palestinian police. They will have to come under the control
of the government there, and the government is the military government
of Israel. Therefore, you can't have separate armed groups. There must
be one chain of command of those who have to keep and maintain law and
order.
Russia
Q. Mr. President, the Israeli Government is seemingly
uncomfortable with the sort of involvement that the Russian Government
has sought to assume lately in the Middle East process. Are we seeing
increasingly a phenomenon worldwide in which Russia, in the way of making
a point that it is still a great nation and deserves recognition, gets
in the way of restoring stability back in the Middle East, the Balkans,
Central Europe, and elsewhere?
The President. I don't think they have gotten in the
way of restoring peace and stability in the Balkans. I think that so
far they have been a constructive force. They are a cosponsor of the
Middle East peace talks and, therefore, have a right to have their say.
I think it is very important, however, if I might turn you question
back just a minute, that as a cosponsor, insofar as possible, that we
coordinate our actions together and that anything they do is not seen
as an obstacle to peace but facilitates it. And the answer to your question,
basically, will have to be revealed by the conduct of the Russians themselves
in the days and weeks ahead.
I think when we were attempting to get the safe zone
around Sarajevo and get the talks back going in the Balkans, the Russians
were basically a positive force. Whether they will be such in the Middle
East will be revealed by their own conduct in the days and weeks ahead.
I hope they will be, and we certainly are willing to coordinate with
them. You know, they were here when we had the signing in September,
and I have always appreciated the fact that they were a cosponsor of
these talks.
Press Secretary Myers. Two more questions.
The President. Brit [Brit Hume, ABC News].
Whitewater Investigation
Q. Do you and Mrs. Clinton still stand by the conclusions
of the so-called Lyons report on your real estate investment in Whitewater,
or are you uncomfortable with those findings?
The President. Look, I don't have anything else to
say about that right now. We are cooperating fully with the special
counsel, which is what all of you asked me to do. I wish you'd let them
do their work.
Yes.
Middle East Peace Process
Q. Mr. President, do you think that Jews should exercise
their right to reside in the middle of Arab cities? And, Mr. Prime Minister,
could you also respond to that?
The President. What was the question?
Q. Should Jews exercise their right to reside in the
middle of Arab cities in the West Bank? Should they live in Hebron,
for instance?
Prime Minister Rabin. I don't understand the question.
Q. Well, there were ideas of evacuating Jews from the
middle of Hebron, for instance.
Prime Minister Rabin. Again, as part of the DOP that
we signed with the PLO, it is said very clearly that the settlements
remain there for the period of—the interim period. I'm not saying
it. It is written very clearly in the DOP. Therefore, since it was agreed,
I don't see at this stage as a condition for anything even to discuss
this issue.
Ames and Pollard Spy Cases
Q. Mr. President, I wonder if you could tell us, and
Mr. Prime Minister, the extent to which you've discussed the Jonathan
Pollard case again, and how much, if at all, the Ames investigation
has interfered with action on it that was presented as imminent several
months ago.
The President. We did not discuss it. And the Ames
case has not interfered with it inasmuch as the Pollard case is already
in the hands of the Justice Department, and the White House is awaiting
a recommendation from the Justice Department.
Thank you.
Q. Could you let the Prime Minister answer?
Prime Minister Rabin. In today's meeting the issue
was not brought up.
The President. Thank you.
Sources: Public Papers of the President |