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Senior Administration Official: As you know, this was the second meeting in roughly a week, so it was basically a continuation of their last talk. The President had said he wanted to see him again, after he had time to think about what Arafat had said and then talk to Prime Minister Barak, and then get back to Arafat. So that's what he did. And they spoke about the process in how to move forward on the current status talks and moving toward a framework agreement. And Dennis will be going out on Wednesday to talk to the negotiators and see where things are and try to help push them along. Chairman Arafat will be meeting with Prime Minister Barak towards the end of this week, Thursday or Friday, as another step in that direction. So there is an acceleration in the talks. And we're obviously--it's something that the Chairman and the President wanted to see happen, and the Prime Minister wants that to happen as well. The Chairman raised the importance of moving on the interim issues, a number of interim issues that flow from the Sharm agreement, and he emphasized a need for U.S. engagement. And as I said, Dennis will be going out there and the President-- Q: Going out where? Senior Administration Official: He's going to Israel on Wednesday. Q: Between Arafat-- Senior Administration Official: In the region, in Israel at the crossing between Gaza and-- Q: The Arafat-Barak meeting will be there? Senior Administration Official: Yes, and that will be on Thursday or Friday. And that will be a good chance for them to talk both about the interim issues, but mainly about the permanent status talks and the need to move quickly to a framework agreement. As for the U.S. engagement, the President committed to remaining himself and the Secretary of State and Dennis involved continuously, trying to help the talks on a day-by-day basis, and try to move them as quickly as possible. Q: Are they going to make the 13th? Senior Administration Official: Well, it's very hard to get there given the amount of time we have, but certainly it's helpful to have that as a goal, and Chairman Arafat and Prime Minister Barak will have to discuss whether they can achieve that time frame, respect that time frame, and if not, what they'll do to keep this on track, despite the slippage. But I think it's a formidable challenge, and if they don't meet it, they'll reach some understanding about how to deal with that problem. Q: Are President Clinton and Chairman Arafat disappointed at all that Barak didn't come to this meeting? Senior Administration Official: No. I mean, there was never any--I think there were some press reports that he was coming and there would be a trilat. I think what the President and the Chairman had discussed last week was if Barak were coming, maybe it would be a good opportunity to have a trilateral, but it was not as if it were something that had been planned for a long time. So it didn't come up, actually. Q: Do you sense any anxiety on the part of Chairman Arafat about the fact of the Syrian-Israel has been proceeding and he was sort of left on the sidelines? Is that why there have been so many of these meetings recently? Senior Administration Official: I don't know about anxiety. I think he wants to move this forward and he is concerned about the February 13th date and wants to move quickly so that we could be as close to that target date as possible. But he certainly didn't mention any anxiety or even his preoccupation about the other track at all. Q: Has the meeting in Israel been announced there, or is this its announcement? Senior Administration Official: I believe it's been announced, but you would have to check with them. It may have been announced yesterday while we were traveling. Q: How long is the meeting, and to what extent does the President see this as real progress that Arafat and Barak will meet next week? Senior Administration Official: How long was this meeting? About 30 minutes. I just think the President always thinks that the most important thing is for the two parties to meet. The U.S. will be there, as I said, on a day-to-day basis, monitoring, talking, suggesting ideas. But the main thing is for the two sides to meet and the fact that they're going to be meeting is--that is a significant step. But they meet quite often. Q: Did we know that before today that they were going to meet? Senior Administration Official: We did. I don't know if the press did; we did. And it may not have been announced yet. But I'm telling you, they will be meeting Thursday or Friday. Q: And what was the name of the location again? Senior Administration Official: Erez. It's the crossing point between--just on the border of Gaza. It could be either on the Gaza side or on the Israeli proper side. [end of text]
Peace Process | Near Eastern Affairs | Department of State | Secretary of State |
