Bill Clinton: “Good morning. Today I embark on a mission inspired by a dream of peace, a dream as ancient as the peoples I will visit…”

“Good morning. Today I embark on a mission inspired by a dream of peace, a dream as ancient as the peoples I will visit, a dream that now, after years of struggle, has a new chance of becoming a reality. Tomorrow, in the desert between Israel and Jordan, two neighbors will agree to lay to rest age-old animosities and give a new future to their countries and their children. King Hussein and Prime Minister Rabin will enter into an historic peace treaty. By their courage, they help their peoples, their region, and the entire world. They help to begin a final journey to peace in one of the most perilous conflicts of our age. By taking part in that ceremony, I will help to fulfill a mission pursued vigorously by the United States, by Presidents of both parties, since the end of World War II. Peace in the Middle East is in our fundamental interests, and our continued participation in the peace process is crucial to its success. The signing ceremony I will witness grows out of the peace process we have helped to build. The treaty between Israel and Jordan will be only the second full peace treaty between Israel and one of its Arab neighbors and the first ever signed in the Middle East itself. The roots of this process reach back to the Camp David accords between the late Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of Israel, in which President Carter played such a pivotal role, and to the historic peace treaty they signed here 15 years ago.…”