Washington, DC

March 30, 2003

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Aid for Israel

Palestinian state

Israeli obligations

[Introductory remarks deleted]

There are so many, many people here tonight who are friends of mine. I can't

see all of you, but there is one very dear friend that I can see and I must

acknowledge, and that's my dear friend Shimon Peres.

And I am very pleased to be sharing the stage this evening with my new Israeli

colleague, Minister Silvan Shalom. The Minister is a true Israeli success

story. He has distinguished himself in so many ways -- as a journalist, as

chairman of the Israel Electric Corporation, as a member of the Knesset, and as

Minister of Finance. And now he brings his many talents and all of his

experience to the Foreign Ministry at a most important time in the life of the

State of Israel. So Mr. Minister, I congratulate you again on your appointment

and I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to working with you, sir.

Congratulations.

My friends, all of us here tonight are brought together by a deep commitment to

Israel's security, prosperity, and freedom, and to the strongest possible

relationship between Israel and the United States.

AIPAC came into being half a century ago to help the young Israel state meet

the challenges of independence. Since then, AIPAC and its members have worked

tirelessly and effectively on Israel's behalf. You have a world-class

reputation for being one of the most effective such organizations in that

regard.

And at the same time, it is America's commitment that also is long and

enduring, a commitment that stretches back to Israel's founding. From the very

moment of Harry Truman's historic decision, in war and peace, the United States

has stood proudly at Israel's side. Our two nations and peoples are bound

together by our common democratic values and traditions. So it has been for

over 50 years. So it will always be.

As we meet tonight, our thoughts cannot help but be with the brave young men

and women from the United States, from Britain, from Australia, and other

coalition partners, who are laying their lives on the line to liberate Iraq

from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein. They are serving their nations and they

are serving humanity, to free the Middle East and the world from the threat of

Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.

War and force was not our first choice. We gave diplomacy every chance. We

worked hard to pass United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441, which gave

Saddam Hussein one last chance to disarm peacefully, but it also made it clear

in that resolution and in that 15-0 vote that if this time he did not take the

chance, if he did not comply, then serious consequences would follow. And they

are now following.

So we warned him that we built up a massive military force on the borders to

show that this time the international community meant business. But Hussein

spurned that final chance, and -- after 12 years of Iraqi defiance and

deception -- we could wait no longer. He did not coomply. He did not

cooperate. And the issue was compliance, not more time for inspections or more

inspectors.

And we should be so proud tonight that there were brave and bold leaders such

as George Bush and Tony Blair and President Aznar and Prime Minister

Berlusconi, Prime Minister Howard, and so many others.

Forty-nine nations openly associated with this willing coalition, all of them

headed by leaders who have to go against public opinion -- public opinion,

because nobody wants war. Everybody would like to avoid war. We did

everything to avoid war. But these 49 nations and their leaders came together

and decided that the world had to be rid of these weapons of mass destruction.

And let there be no doubt about the outcome. We will drive Saddam and his

regime from power. We will liberate Iraq. We will remove the shadow of

Saddam's terrible weapons from Israel and the Middle East, and we will keep

them from the hands of terrorists who would threaten the entire civilized

world.

I know that all of you are as proud as I am of the brave men and women in

uniform who are making our success possible. You see them on your television

sets every evening. Volunteers all. Willing to serve.

We are also thinking of the men and women who spend this night as prisoners of

war. We hold the Iraqi regime accountable for their treatment and their

safety, until we can bring them back home. And we will bring them home.

Our thoughts and prayers tonight also go out to the families of those American

and British heroes who have given their lives. They will not be forgotten.

And the best way we can honor their sacrifice and their legacy is to carry on

the fight until we win. And we will win.

You see much on television and you read much in your newspapers as to how the

war is going. Commentary from all directions. Let me just say this to you.

We are only 10 or 11 days into this war. Baghdad is slowly being encircled.

Pockets of resistance are being isolated. The oil fields are secure.

Humanitarian aid is beginning to flow. I have total confidence in the plan and

total confidence in General Franks and the other leaders who are carrying out

that plan.

But winning means more than just driving Saddam Hussein from power. It also

means giving hope and a better future to 24 million Iraqis after decades of

oppression and misrule.

And we are already starting to help Iraqis in need. We are bringing water to

thirsty people. We are clearing Saddam's mines from ports so we can send in

ships with food and medicine to distribute to the hungry and to the sick.

And once they are liberated, we will work with the Iraqi people to help them

create a country that is peaceful, democratic, and unified, living in peace

with its neighbors. We will help them build a nation that uses its vast oil

wealth to improve the lives of mothers and children, not to develop terrible

weapons or dot the countryside with lavish palaces.

While we deal with Saddam Hussein, we must not forget the burdens that the

conflict with Iraq has placed on our Israeli friends. I am very pleased that

President Bush has included in his supplemental budget request that just went

to Congress $1 billion in Foreign Military Financing funds to help Israel

strengthen its military and civil defenses. And that's just for starters. The

President is also asking for $9 billion in loan guarantees. These loan

guarantees will help Israel deal with the economic costs arising from the

conflict, and will help Israel to implement the critical economic and budgetary

reforms it needs to get its economy back on track. And I am hopeful that

Congress, with your encouragement will act quickly on this request.

You know, even as we rid the world of the Iraqi threat and we deal with these

crises, we are also working to meet the other challenges we face at the dawn of

this new century.

Over a year and a half ago, the cowardly attacks of September 11 occurred, and

a year and a half later, we are still at war with terrorism. In Afghanistan,

the fight continues to destroy the last vestiges of al-Qaida and the Taliban.

It is still a dangerous place. Just yesterday, we lost two soldiers. That war

is not forgotten. We will remain engaged in Afghanistan. The two soldiers were

lost not while out looking for combat, they were lost by being ambushed while

they were inspecting a school and a hospital, both being built with American

funding. And we mourn their loss and our thoughts are with their families.

But we have accomplished so much in Afghanistan in the past year and a half.

We have stood up a new government, a government that is committed to the rights

of all of its people, a government that is bringing women into the workplace

and into the government itself.

So there is so much going on that is good in Afghanistan and good in other

parts of the world, and we are hard at work on this campaign against

terrorism. With the Kurds of northern Iraq, we are driving al-Qaida's friends,

the Ansar al-Islam terrorists, out of their caves.

Let there be no doubt. We will pursue al-Qaida and its accomplices in

Afghanistan, in Iraq, and everywhere they plot their murders. Around the

world, around the world, we are working with coalition members to search out

terrorists, break up their networks, and find their financing. Every day

another terrorist is arrested and put before the bar of justice. There will be

no let up, no respite, no rest until the terrorists are defeated. We will

never forget what was done to us on 9/11 and we will do whatever is necessary

to defeat those who were responsible.

As part of our overall strategy in combating terrorism and dealing with states

that do not follow acceptable patterns of behavior, we are demanding more

responsible behavior from these states, especially those in the region. It is

now time for the entire international community to step up and insist that Iran

end its support for terrorists, including groups violently opposed to Israel

and to the Middle East peace process. Tehran must stop pursuing weapons of

mass destruction and the means to deliver them. In addition, we will continue

to support the aspirations of the Iranian people to improve their lives and

live in peace and security with their neighbors.

Syria also now faces a critical choice. Syria can continue direct support for

terrorist groups and the dying regime of Saddam Hussein, or it can embark on a

different and more hopeful course. Either way, Syria bears the responsibility

for its choices, and for the consequences.

These are sobering issues and sobering realities. We live in difficult and

sobering times. But I am an eternal optimist. And as I think about the

challenges, as I think about these crises, I also try to take time each day to

think about the soaring opportunities that we see throughout the world to bring

liberty and fresh hope to men, women, and children on every continent.

The spread of democratic and economic freedoms, combined with breathtaking

advances in technology, opens unprecedented opportunities to lift millions out

of misery -- to help people put roofs over their heads, good food on their

tables, and clean water on their parched lips.

Just a year ago, President Bush saw the need to come forward with a bold new

initiative and to capitalize on these opportunities to kindle hope in people's

hearts. He called it the Millennium Challenge Account, the most exciting thing

we've done in foreign assistance in many years. It will put large funds of

American money behind those countries that make a real commitment to democracy,

to ruling justly, to investing in people, and embracing economic freedom -- use

our assistance to spur economic growth, and attract not more aid, but attract

investment that is needed to further these nations along the road to

prosperity.

There are so many other opportunities that are now given to us by the end of

the Cold War -- the relationship with Russia and China that couldn't have been

dreamed of just 12 or 15 years ago -- an opportunity to come together and

defeat perhaps one of the greatest scourges on the face of the earth, HIV/AIDS,

which kills millions of people every day on the face of the earth.

The opportunity to have free trade agreements so that more and more nations can

join in the prosperity of the 21st century. The opportunity to deal with

famine and all of those other issues of a transnational nature that the people

of the world want us to deal with and look to the United States for leadership,

leadership that we will provide.

Our world is a mix of challenges and opportunities, old and new. But no

challenge, no opportunity, is more important, more pressing, than the quest to

put an end to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

These are difficult times for Israel. Families live with the reality that a

suicide bomber could tear their lives apart. Just hours ago, the bombers

struck again, in Netanya. We condemn this cowardly attack and we pray for the

victims and their families.

Continued terror and instability is having a terrible effect on the Israeli

economy. Tourism and investment are down. Breadwinners are worried about

their jobs. Young people are increasingly worried about their economic

futures.

The people of Israel are coping. They always do. They always have. But

Israelis should not just cope, not just survive; they should thrive. And with

our help, they will.

We are all here tonight working and praying for the day when Israelis can go

out to dinner and relax and enjoy the evening, without looking over their

shoulders. We are all striving for the day when Israeli parents can send their

children to school without fear, when they can travel without trepidation, and

when they can enjoy the bounty of a booming economy.

We all know that the solution to these difficulties is peace. That is why we

are working so hard to bring an end to the tragic conflict between Israel and

the Palestinians that has caused both peoples so much suffering.

Last year, President Bush outlined a bold vision for peace based on two states

existing peacefully, side-by-side -- a secure, Jewish, democratic State of

Israel, and a viable, peaceful, democratic, independent State of Palestine.

We are not naive. We know it will be hard to achieve this vision, especially

after the terrible violence and suffering of recent years. Peace will take

courage and difficult choices by Israel, by Palestinians, and by Israel's

neighbors in the region.

And one fact is unmistakable. The President's vision requires an end to the

use of violence and terror as a political tool. There is no other way. Terror

must end.

The President's vision puts clear obligations on the Palestinians. The

Palestinian state must be based on transformed leaderships and institutions

that end terror. The Palestinian government must be transparent and

accountable to the people. Above all, the Palestinian state must be a real

partner for peace with Israel.

Israel has clear obligations, too. It must take steps to ease the suffering of

Palestinians and diminish the daily humiliation of life under occupation.

Israel must also help put economic hope in Palestinian hearts by helping revive

the devastated economies of the West Bank and Gaza.

Settlement activity is simply inconsistent with President Bush's two-state

vision. As the President has said, "as progress is made toward peace,

settlement activity in the Occupied Territories must end."

Today, we have reached a hopeful moment, when progress may again be possible.

Israel has held elections and formed a new government. The Palestinian

Legislative Council has created the office of Prime Minister for the

Palestinian Authority. As written and passed, the law gives the prime minister

real power and authority, and provides direct accountability to the legislature

that elected him.

There was a vigorous debate among Palestinians over this step, but in the end,

the PLC was clearly responding to calls for freedom from the Palestinian people

themselves. We will be watching very carefully to see how the new Palestinian

prime minister exercises his authority, which is so important for Palestinians'

hopes for a better future.

Once the new Palestinian prime minister is confirmed in office, we will present

both sides with the roadmap we have developed to restart movement toward peace.

The President's vision of June 24th marked the beginning of what must be a

continuous, determined journey to peace. The roadmap we have developed in

close consultation with the parties, our friends in the region, and our

partners in the Quartet - Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations -

describes that journey and the mutual obligations both sides must meet if we

are going to reach our shared destination.

The roadmap is not an edict, it is not a treaty. It is a statement of the

broad steps we believe Israel and the Palestinians must take to achieve

President Bush's vision of hope and the dream that we all have for peace.

Israel and the Palestinians must walk the road of peace together, if either is

to arrive at the desired destination. The roadmap offers a way for the two

sides to restart the direct engagement with each other that their journey

requires.

As we move ahead, we must not lose sight of why we are doing this. We are

working so hard for peace because the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has taken

too many lives -- Jewish, Muslim, and Christian -- and ruined far too many

more. We must find a way to ensure that Israeli children, Palestinian children

can grow up in peace and dignity and live in mutual respect of each other. We

must recommit ourselves to making a better future for men, women, children, and

generations yet unborn.

In the Middle East, such hope depends on security. And Israel's security

ultimately requires a real and lasting peace with its neighbors. That is the

reality behind the roadmap.

My friends, from day one to today, America has been totally committed to

Israel's security and well-being. So has AIPAC. In good times and difficult

times, Israel has always been able to rely on her friends. The United States

and AIPAC have always been there. And we will always be.

Thank you so very much.

[End]

Released on March 31, 2003

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See http://www.state.gov/secretary/ for all remarks by the Secretary of State.

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