Bill Clinton: “I think it's--on the Golan issue, let me say, generally, we shouldn't get in the way of the parties making peace…”

“I think it's--on the Golan issue, let me say, generally, we shouldn't get in the way of the parties making peace themselves. And I don't think I should say or do anything on that that would undermine the possibility of the parties reaching a peace. I think that ought to be the position that all Americans take. Now, the Prime Minister can comment on this better than I, but you know there have been American troops in the Sinai for quite a long time without incident. And I don't think any American would begrudge the investment we've made in the historic peace that grew out of Camp David. Prime Minister Rabin. Do you know that there are today a thousand Americans, about a thousand Americans, that served for 15\1/2\ years in the Sinai as part of the multinational force in which there are participation of military civilians from Austria, New Zealand, Colombia, Canada, and this force is in existence since we signed the peace treaty with Egypt, on the demand of Israel? All of the Americans there, as the others--and there is one fighting infantry battalion, American uniformed soldiers, in the Sinai. Their role is not to defend Israel. Their role is to monitor the military annex of the peace treaty, the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. And it serves effectively. No American was hurt there by any terror activities, because it is an area controlled by the Egyptian armed forces. We work in cooperation. We have all the machinery of cooperation. No doubt, on the Golan Heights, for 19 years, we had no one act of terror toward the lines between Syria and Israel. The Golan Heights today is the safest from terror because the Syrians keep their commitment under the disengagement agreement of 1974.”