Rice Pledges Ongoing U.S. Commitment to Mideast Peace Process
14 January 2007
Meeting with Palestinian president builds on momentum toward two-state solution
Washington -- The United States is "deeply committed to finding ways to accelerate progress" toward a two-state solution in the Middle East and to resolve the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters January 14 in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Rice met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as part of her weeklong visit to the region. She assured Abbas she has "heard loud and clear the call for deeper American engagement" in moving forward on the peace process.
"The United States is absolutely committed to helping to find a solution where Israelis and Palestinians can live in security, in which they can live in peace and in which they can live in democracy," Rice said.
The secretary noted the timing of her visit, which followed what she called a "successful meeting" between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Rice said she wants to "build on the momentum that is currently in Palestinian-Israeli relations to look at the political horizon and to begin to show to the Palestinian people how we might move toward the establishment of a Palestinian state."
When asked about tens of millions of dollars in proposed U.S. aid for Palestinian security forces, Rice said the U.S. contribution would be part of an international effort. The money would be used to train and equip "professional, unified Palestinian security forces" in a program that "will unfold over a period of time" she said. (See related article.)
"I am sure that President Abbas and his people will want to be attentive to the requirements of the plan, including attentive to concerns about human rights which are there in all of our train-and-equip programs around with world," Rice continued.
Rice praised Abbas’s leadership of the Palestinian people, and voiced the United States’ desire for the Palestinians "to be able to live in unity and in democracy and in peace with a government that can get the respect and the support of the international community."
"That is something the Palestinian people deserve," she said. In a later interview in Jerusalem with the Arabic newspaper Al Quds, Rice expanded on that point. "The Palestinian people have waited a long time to have a state" and have "put up with … daily humiliations of not having a state." She added that "the Israeli people have waited a long time to feel secure in their state," and that a two-state resolution would "make a big difference" for both peoples.
Rice’s meeting with Abbas followed discussions with members of the Israeli government in an effort to "enlist the support of anybody I can" in moving forward toward a peaceful two-state solution, the secretary said.
After her meeting, Rice reflected on the progress in the peace process to date in an interview in Jerusalem with Israel’s Channel 10. Speaking about Israel’s disengagement from Gaza, Rice said she was "particularly impressed with young officers of the [Israel Defense Forces] and how they managed [the Israeli withdrawal]."
"It is true that security in Gaza has been really problematic, particularly between Palestinians, but indeed as they begin to solve their own political crisis one would hope that … the promise of what could be in the Gaza can really be fulfilled," she continued. Rice then said that the disengagement "was actually a very important and good step forward for peace."
SYRIA
Asked during the Channel 10 interview about the possibility of Israeli engagement with Syria, Rice said the United States "would like to see at some point a resolution on the Syria matter" but noted that Syria currently continues to try to "undermine the government of Lebanon" and "play a negative role in the Palestinian conflict."
"There’s no indication that the Syrian government has anything but disruptive plans right now," Rice said. "[The United States continues] to look for evidence that Syria’s behavior is changing, that Syria is going to stop supporting the destabilization of Iraq, that Syria will stop supporting the destabilization of Lebanon and that it will be a positive force in the territories."
IRAN
In the Channel 10 interview, Rice also discussed the December 23, 2006, U.N. Security Council resolution to sanction Iran in response to the country’s refusal to halt its nuclear enrichment programs. (See related article.)
"[The resolution] sends a very strong message to Iran that the world is united against the nuclear program that Iran is embarked upon," she said. "Perhaps states will think twice and companies will think twice and banks will think twice about their dealings with Iran."
Rice said that there is still "plenty of room for diplomacy" with Iran, and before considering military operations, "more muscular diplomacy with financial measures backing up the kinds of things that we’re doing in the Security Council" could come into play.
Other stops on Rice’s trip include Luxor, Egypt; Amman, Jordan; Kuwait City; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; London and Berlin before returning to Washington January 19. (See related article.)
Transcripts of Rice's press availability with Abbas, interview with Israel's Channel 10, and interview with Al Quds are available on the State Department Web site.
For more information on U.S. policies, see The Middle East: A Vision for the Future and Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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