Bill Clinton: “Thank you, Prime Minister. Ladies and gentlemen, because I had the opportunity to speak at length at Knesset this…”

“Thank you, Prime Minister. Ladies and gentlemen, because I had the opportunity to speak at length at Knesset this evening and to outline my position on a number of matters, I will be very brief. I would like to make just a couple of points. First of all, at my first meeting with Prime Minister Rabin shortly after I became President, he told me he was prepared to take risks for peace. And I told him that that being the case, the job of the United States was to minimize those risks. For 20 months now, we have both done our best to do our jobs, and I think it's fair to say that we have had a reasonable amount of success in which the people of Israel can be proud and in which they can feel secure and one in which I hope the American people take pride. Secondly, I would like to congratulate him and the people of Israel again on the peace treaty with Jordan. We have responsibilities there that relate to the security of both Israel and Jordan, and I have been working on that even since the peace treaty has been signed. I was in conversations with the King well past midnight last night. We are attempting to do our part to make sure this peace is as wildly successful as everyone believes that it can be. Thirdly, I thank the Prime Minister for his comments about terrorism and his support for our policies. Especially I think I should mention something I did not mention in my speech tonight, which is the steadfast support of Israel for our policies in the Gulf and for our recent action in the Gulf. I will be going to Kuwait tomorrow to see our troops and on to Saudi Arabia. I appreciate the support of Israel. Finally, with regard to what the Prime Minister said about Syria and my trip there today, I went there because I was convinced we needed to add new energy to the talks. And I come away from Syria convinced that we have, that some significant progress has been at least made possible, that there has been some change in positions that offer the hope of more progress. And I have instructed the Secretary of State to return to the region within a few weeks to continue. Meanwhile, other discussions continue at other levels. And I am confident that we can be successful by simply pushing ahead. So on all these fronts, I feel better tonight than I did when I came here. And again, I thank the Prime Minister for this welcome and for the opportunity to address the Knesset. Middle East Peace Process”