For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 7, 2002
President Bush, Prime Minister Sharon Discuss Middle East
Remarks by the President and Prime Minister Sharon of Israel in Photo Opportunity
The Oval Office
6:25 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: I'm going to make a statement; the Prime
Minister will make a statement. We both have agreed we'll
answer two questions from both sides. I'll call on somebody;
the Prime Minister's press aide will call on somebody, and that's the
way we're going to do it.
So it's my honor to welcome a good friend, the Prime Minister of
Israel, back to the Oval Office. Mr. Prime Minister, I'm so
glad you're here. Welcome back.
We just had an extensive discussion, first about our mutual desire
to rid the world of terror. I assured him that our nation is
just beginning in a great objective, which is to eliminate those
terrorist organizations of global reach. And by doing so, I
firmly believe that the world will be a more peaceful
place. My most important objective is to protect our
homeland. The best way to do so is to rout terrorist
organizations where they try to hide and bring them to justice.
Secondly, I assured the Prime Minister that we will continue to
keep pressure on Mr. Arafat to convince him that he must take serious
concrete, real steps to reduce terrorist activity in the Middle East.
We had an interesting discussion about how we can help the
Palestinian, those who aren't involved with terror. I'm
deeply concerned about the plight of the average Palestinian, the moms
and dads who are trying to raise their children, to educate their
children. My government is -- I've got $300 million in the
budget to go through NGOs to help Palestinians be able to realize a
better life.
And, finally, we had a good discussion about how best to work
together to get the Mitchell process started, to get into Tenet and
then in Mitchell. In other words, that we had wide-ranging
discussions not only about international terror, but security, about
economic development for the Palestinians, as well as for the desire to
achieve -- to get into Mitchell so that there can be some long-lasting
peace in the region.
And so, Mr. Prime Minister, I appreciate the candid
discussion. I appreciate your friendship, and I want to
welcome you back.
PRIME MINISTER SHARON: Thank you, Mr.
President. I was very glad to be again at the White
House. We had discussions about strategic issues in the
region. We talked about the need to fight terror and not to
get into compromise with terror -- one cannot get into compromise with
terror. At the same time, we discussed steps that should be
taken in order to improve the life conditions of those Palestinians
that are not involved in terror. That's my intention. It
was always my intention. And, of course, we'll try and see
what can be done.
And, altogether, I think that we can look forward with optimism,
though it's not going to be a short struggle against
terror. It's a long struggle. But I'm sure that
we will win, as I have a real admiration, Mr. President, for the steps
that you have been taking against terror, in order to defend our
values.
Q Mr. President --
THE PRESIDENT: Hold on a second. And I'm
going to do the calling on who gets the question. He's not
through yet.
Are you through?
PRIME MINISTER SHARON: Is there any questions?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, there's going to be -- (laughter.)
Barry Schweid. (Laughter.) I'm the control
guy. (Laughter.)
Q I'm new at this.
THE
PRESIDENT: Welcome. (Laughter.) You
don't look that new to me, Barry. But, anyway, please.
Q I did your Dad.
THE PRESIDENT: That's right.
Q At this point, sir, is there a point for
the U.S. to talk to Mr. Arafat? Is there a point for Israel
to talk to Arafat?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, Mr. Arafat has heard from
us. I can't be any more clear in my position, and that is
that he must do everything in his power to fight terror.
Obviously, we were, at first, surprised, and then extremely
disappointed when the Karine-A showed up loaded with weapons, weapons
that could have only been intended for one thing, which was to
terrorize. And I made our government's position about as
clear as I could. I couldn't say it any more plainly, and I
haven't changed my position.
And as to what the Prime Minister's position is, he can answer
that.
PRIME MINISTER SHARON: I personally, myself and my
government, regard Arafat as an obstacle to peace. Arafat
has chosen a strategy of terror and formed a coalition of
terror. Therefore, we believe that pressure should be put on
Arafat in order, maybe, I hope, to have an authoritative leadership in
the future.
Q Mr. President, the Israeli Defense
Minister said today that Ms. Condoleezza Rice and also your Vice
President Cheney said that they don't trust Arafat, they don't believe
any words coming out of his mouth, and there's no point keeping talking
to him. Do you think, as those officials, that there is a
point to keep talking to him, to be in contact with him? Or do you
think it is time to change the phase in the pressure on Arafat?
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Arafat has heard my
message. I can't be any more clear about it, that he must do
everything in his power to reduce terrorist attacks on
Israel. And that -- at one point in time, he was indicating
to us that he was going to do so, and then all of a sudden, a ship
loaded with explosives show up that most of the world believes he was
involved with.
And I think it's very important that people realize that this great
nation wants us to get into Mitchell as quickly as possible, but we
fully understand that it's difficult to have peace during terrorist
times, and that our campaign against global terror should help the
region.
And I am absolutely committed to fighting terror wherever terror
exists. And I would hope other leaders do so. And
Mr. Arafat has a chance to do so, and my hope is, is that he responds
in a positive way.
At the same time, I am deeply concerned about the plight of the
average Palestinian. I worry about stories and pictures I
see of people going hungry and children not being educated, and deep
concerns etched on the faces of moms and dads who happen to be
Palestinian. And my government -- we've discussed this
openly with the Prime Minister -- and as I said, we budgeted money to
go through non-governmental organizations to help. And I
think the world understands that there's a lot of folks over there who
suffer because of the terrorist activities of a few.
Q Mr. President, did Iran and Iraq figure in
your conversations today with the Prime Minister? And why
are you sending Vice President Cheney to the region next month, and
particularly the four countries that directly border on Iraq?
THE PRESIDENT: I'm sending the Vice President because,
one, he is a key player in our administration, and I want to get
feedback from the world, from the world leaders. I want them
to see firsthand, as well, our strong intent to fight terror.
There's nothing like looking somebody in the eye and letting them
know that when we say we're going to fight terror, we mean
it. And there's nothing like people getting a sense of the
determination of this government. There's a lot of folks who
might have predicted that over time we would grow weary and we'd get
tired and we'd kind of get faint of heart. The Vice President can
deliver the message to many important world leaders that our government
is absolutely committed to fighting terror, and we expect people to
join us in doing so.
As I said, either you're with or you're against us. And
we fully understand that in order to be effective in our fight against
terror, that we need others to join us. And so the Vice
President I think is going to be very effective at convincing -- at
convincing our friends we mean business. And we would hope
that they would do everything in their power to shut off money, to deny
haven, and to join this grand coalition dedicated to one thing --
freedom and peace.
As to whether or not we discussed other countries in the region --
you bet. We discussed a lot of countries in the
region. And we've had a very frank and open discussion.
Q President Bush, the government of Israel
decided not to let Chairman Arafat move -- (inaudible.) Do
you think this decision serves the goal of stability in the Middle
East?
And one question for you, Prime Minister Sharon. You
said a couple of months ago that you want to give the Palestinians a
Palestinian state, for the first time -- Do you still support the same
--
THE PRESIDENT: Do you want to go first?
PRIME MINISTER SHARON: Yes. I believe that
the end of the process first should be the perfect right to be a full
cessation of terror and violence and incitement. And then
several steps will be taken by the Palestinians, like arresting --
serious arrest of the terrorists, dismantling terrorist organizations
and their infrastructure, collecting their weapons that should be
handed to American representatives and destroyed out of the --
area. Once they would take serious preventive steps and stop
completely incitement, then we'll start negotiations.
I believe that one day we'll be reaching a peace. Israel
is committed to peace. And at the end of the process, I
believe that the Palestinian state, of course, will be -- we'll see a
Palestinian state. But only at the end and the final steps
that should be taken in order to start negotiations. They
cannot be done under terror. We are -- my role and my
government's role is to defend our citizens against acts of terror.
THE PRESIDENT: We, too, of course, support a Palestinian
state, one that's been negotiated by the parties; one that recognizes
that Israel has got a right to exist, and Israel will be supportive of
their right to self-govern. I think that's an ultimate aim
that we all have got to work hard to get to. The problem is
there are some that don't want to get there, and therefore, terrorize.
My position on Mr. Arafat is clear as of today. I can't
be any more clear about what I think he ought to do. And I'm
confident if he were to make these strong steps toward reducing terror,
it would help the world -- it would help tell the world that he is
fully dedicated toward achieving the objectives that we both
described.
And it's going to be hard to have a peace process if -- so long as
there's terrorist activity. But we believe strongly that
Chairman Arafat needs to put a 100 percent effort to achieve a peaceful
-- some peace, so that we can then get to a political
process. And that's very important for us.
Listen, thank you all for coming.
END 6:40
P.M. EST
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