Congratulations, Tim. You've got your work cut out for you, as I think everybody knows. But you also have my full confidence, my deepest trust, my unyielding belief that we can rise to achieve what is required of us at this moment.

I think it is possible for us to see a Palestinian state -- I'm not going to put a time frame on it -- that is contiguous, that allows freedom of movement for its people.

I think the most important thing is for the United States to get engaged right away.

If we are looking at the region as a whole, and communicating a message to the Arab world and the Muslim world that we are ready to initiate a new partnership based on mutual respect and mutual interests, then I think that we can make…

Congratulations, Tim. You have got your work cut out for you, as I think everybody knows. But you also have my full confidence, my deepest trust, my unyielding belief that we can rise to achieve what is required of us at this moment.

That's why we've got George Mitchell going there. This is somebody with extraordinary patience as well as extraordinary skill.

I do think that it is impossible for us to think only in terms of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and not think in terms of what's happening with Syria or Iran or Lebanon or Afghanistan and Pakistan. These things are interrelated.

Ultimately, we cannot tell either the Israelis or the Palestinians what's best for them. They're going to have to make some decisions.

My job is to communicate to the American people that the Muslim world is filled with extraordinary people who simply want to live their lives and see their children live better lives. My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the…

The bottom line in all these talks in all these conversations is, is a child in the Palestinian territories going to be better off?

I think that there are ideas across the region of how we might pursue peace.