Secretary Christopher Interview on "Meet The Press"

The State Department web site below is a permanent electronic archive of information released online from January 1, 1997 to January 20, 2001. Please see www.state.gov for current material from the Department of State. Or visit http://2001-2009.state.gov for information from that period. Archive sites are not updated, so external links may no longer function. Contact us with any questions about finding information. NOTE: External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein.

MR. RUSSERT: And with us now, the man who brokered this meeting, the Secretary of State, Warren Christopher. Mr. Secretary, good morning.

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: I was on the telephone much of the night, Tim, as you probably guessed.

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: I talked several times with the President yesterday, but I also talked both with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Chairman Arafat. They agreed that they would accept the President's invitation. I think it was the personal prestige of the President and the prestige of the United States that caused them to be willing to come here. Tim, let me just say a few words about that meeting, if I could. This is a crisis situation. Last week I think showed the importance of the peace process. The alternative is violence, and that's not satisfactory to anyone at all. I think the parties have looked over that abyss of violence, and they really want to turn back from it, and that's what caused them to accept the President's invitation. We must get a commitment from them to end the violence, we must resume the peace process, and this is one of those times when the United States has a responsibility. We can't turn away from it. The parties themselves will have to make difficult decisions, but we in the United States have had such a long stake. Our interests are deeply engaged here. The President is the leader of the free world, and I think he recognized that in extending this invitation.

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: The peace process no doubt is in jeopardy. I think all the parties in the region have seen the violence of this last week endangering it. At the same time, Tim, I want to say that the peace process has proved quite durable in the past. You remember the massacre at Hebron and the danger it was in then. You perhaps remember the four suicide bombings in Israel. That threatened it very much, too. This is probably the worst threat it's had, with the 55 or more killings; hundreds, perhaps thousands of people injured. So it's urgent the parties get back into direct contact with each other.

MR. RUSSERT: Yasser Arafat had said, Mr. Secretary, that he would not meet with Mr. Netanyahu until that now famous archeological tunnel was closed. Today we saw pictures from Israel, the tunnel has reopened. Why is Mr. Arafat meeting, even though the tunnel is open?

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: There's obviously a strong difference between the parties on that issue, but they'll have an opportunity to discuss that here. I think Chairman Arafat told me last night that if the President invited him, he couldn't fail to come because he has a responsibility, too.

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Tim, you know, my business is not the blame business. My business is trying to get in the fix-it business. I don't think it serves any particular purpose for the United States in advance of the meetings to indicate its view on any one of the issues. We'll be trying to move the parties back into negotiations, back into direct contact.

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Jerusalem is a final status matter. The parties have committed Jerusalem to being one of the things they will discuss in the final status, meaning it's one of the most difficult issues. That will have to be resolved there. It's such a sensitive matter that no one would casually make a comment on that subject. The parties will resolve that between themselves.

MR. RUSSERT: A State Department official was quoted as saying as follows: "This is just a bloody mess. The Israelis have not been cooperative."

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: I don't know who that was, Tim, but Prime Minister Netanyahu was anxious to come to the meeting. He's committed himself to the peace process. He'd like to see a basis for resuming the negotiations. Our job is to work with both of the parties, and I think this is no time for us to be pointing fingers at either of them. There may be some emotional satisfaction on the part of some people for doing that, but that's not our task, and that's not the role the President or I will play.

MR. RUSSERT: The United States was rather public in its support for Shimon Peres, the Labor party candidate for Prime Minister in the previous election. He lost. Mr. Netanyahu, the Likud party candidate won. Is it more difficult for the United States to be an honest broker now, since we had supported Mr. Netanyahu's opponent?

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Our job is to work with the parties in power. We've been working very well with Mr. Netanyahu. In terms of our contacts with him, he's been available to me all through this period, and he's accepted our invitation here. I think both parties have seen this week that violence is not the course they want to follow. They understand that alternative is not a good alternative. They need to get back into negotiations, and that's what we'll be trying to do here. I would say this, Tim. We shouldn't expect miracles out of this rather brief meeting here. Neither of the parties will want to leave the region for a long time. I think the meeting will be a day or perhaps two days long. They're estranged. They're pretty raw. So I think the important thing is to get them back into direct contact, discussing these issues, and I think we'll be able to play our historic role with this Israeli Government. They understand that the United States is committed not to an individual in their government but to the people of Israel and to the concept of Israel.

MR. RUSSERT: Do you think that Benjamin Netanyahu really wants to go forward with the peace process?

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Yes, I'm convinced that he sees in the peace process what is best for Israel in the long run, and I'm convinced the people of Israel feel that way about it as well. He'll go about it in perhaps a different way than before, but in the long term I think he must understand that Israel is better off when it has relations with its neighbors. There's been lots of progress out there, despite all the tragedy we're seeing this week: the peace agreement with Jordan, the normalized relations with a number of countries in the region, and indeed the beginning of working out the problems on the West Bank. We're now seeing how awful it is, how horrible it is, if we return to violence.

MR. RUSSERT: This is an election year here in the United States. Undeniable. Only five weeks to go before the November election. It was the President who made this announcement this morning, not you. Obviously, he's politically sensitive. Is it possible in the middle of a Presidential election for President Clinton to do anything which would alienate Jewish-American voters?

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Tim, the President has to go on being President. He has a responsibility in that regard. The times I've talked to him in the last two or three days -- and it has been several times a day -- his one thought was his responsibility to keep the peace process from faltering. That will be the talisman that he stands by: "What can I do to insure the peace process gets back on track and continues?"

MR. RUSSERT: But the world has been outspoken in condemning Israel for opening up this tunnel. Only the United States was opposing this in the United Nations. Doesn't this give the perception of domestic political considerations over serious foreign policy?

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Tim, this is no change for us. We've been very careful all the time to be an honest broker here, to be able to deal with both of the parties; and in doing that I think it doesn't help any to point fingers or try to assess blame. We try to move forward from here, to look forward, not backward, and I think we would not be effective if we started to make an assessment of who was wrong. Both parties have got a lot of grievances against each other, and what we need to do is to get them beyond those grievances.

MR. RUSSERT: The Israelis have committed to removing their troops from Hebron -- the town there. Will the Israelis honor that commitment, and should they?

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: I think when they get back into negotiations, Hebron will be really on the top of the list. They were making at least the beginnings of progress there when this violence erupted, and, yes, I think they're committed to doing that. Prime Minister Netanyahu has indicated that he understands his commitment to the internationally binding agreement that was reached with the Palestinians.

MR. RUSSERT: There's also discussion today -- a key adviser to Prime Minister Netanyahu suggesting that if the violence continues, the Israelis may disarm the 30,000 Palestinian police who have semiautomatic weapons, which were in effect given to them or tolerated by the Israelis during this whole peace process. Would that be prudent?

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Tim, let's hear from the Prime Minister on subjects like that. That's a very serious suggestion. What I would do is to point people to the very good working relationship between the Palestinian police and the Israeli Defense Forces. They were working very closely together before this episode came along. Moreover, there are always happy things, there are always positive things that happen in these tragedies. In the last couple of days, the Palestinian police and others have gone to the rescue of Israeli soldiers. They have pushed back their crowds. They've shown that they want to end this violence, too.

MR. RUSSERT: But at the moment, it would not be prudent to disarm the Palestinian police?

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: At the moment that's not part of the program. As a matter of fact, they have to get back to the place where the Palestinian police have a responsibility for patrolling in their areas. I think that one of the things that Prime Minister Netanyahu is insisting on with Chairman Arafat is that they take care of their own areas; and in order to do that, obviously, the police have to have the proper equipment.

MR. RUSSERT: The President said the meeting would take place in Washington early this week. Do you have anything more definitive, Mr. Secretary?

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: No. I think it ought to take place as early as possible. We obviously have some travel problems. I would say early this week is the right estimate, and I would say it will be probably not longer than two days; maybe one to two days.

MR. RUSSERT: Let me turn to, before you go, just a couple quick areas. In Russia, we have a very ill President Boris Yeltsin. His head of national security, General Alex Lebed, said yesterday that Russia was rudderless, and he was very concerned about who was in control, even suggesting who was in control of the nuclear arsenal. Are you worried about Russia?

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: We've got a lot of confidence in President Yeltsin and Prime Minister Chernomyrdin. They're beginning to develop constitutional processes there to deal with disability. I think the government there seems to be firmly in the control of President Yeltsin, who obviously is somewhat ill but nevertheless managing until he does have this surgery. We've had a lot of contact with Prime Minister Chernomyrdin, who's I think an authoritative figure there. I've met several times in the last several days with Foreign Minister Primakov. Their government is functioning, and the people I mentioned are really the ones who are in charge.

MR. RUSSERT: But the head of national security, General Lebed -- that's not ominous that he's making these kinds of comments, suggesting that the country may be heading for disarray?

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: I don't regard those as authoritative comments regarding the Russian system.

MR. RUSSERT: Before you go, two weeks ago House Speaker Newt Gingrich was on this program. I asked him about the situation in Bosnia. I want to show you a tape of what he had to say.

MR. GINGRICH: "So it's all a matter of semantics. The American people should expect the young men and women in uniform will be in Bosnia, I believe, after the election, I think, and after December 20. I think that's a fact. I think the Administration would be much more honest and candid if it just said that, and then planned according to the. . ."

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Speaker Gingrich may or may not be right. That decision has not been made. NATO will examine whether or not it's necessary to have some force in Bosnia after IFOR leaves. IFOR will leave --

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: The International Force will leave on schedule, as the President said it would. It's really too early to decide that question. The elections went much better than many expected. A lot of the naysayers were saying, "Don't hold the elections." The elections were conducted in calm. Now the next job for us is to put together the national government -- the unifying government -- on top of Bosnia. How well that goes will have a lot to do with the kind of international presence that might be necessary in the future. So it may be that Speaker Gingrich has some eye into the future that tells him how this is going to come out. Frankly, that decision has not been made. It will be made after NATO has an opportunity to examine the situation and make a recommendation.

MR. RUSSERT: But should the American people know before the election whether or not President Clinton is going to pull all American troops, ground troops, out of Bosnia by December 20, as promised, or whether or not they're going to have to remain?

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Tim, I think, as I said, IFOR troops -- the commitment of troops the American people heard the President make -- they will be gone by about December 20. Whether some time after the election the President makes a decision with respect to an international presence, that decision will have to be made after some time when NATO makes its recommendation, which I would expect would be sometime this fall.

MR. RUSSERT: But the Speaker is saying that's semantics; that the American troops are American troops, and if they're there, no matter under what particular operation name, the fact is the President said they'd be out by the 20th. If they're going to stay, we should be told now.

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Tim, the President can't react to something where he doesn't have a recommendation from NATO, when he hasn't made the decision. Perhaps Speaker Gingrich would like to have him decide that earlier than really is necessary. It would be premature to make that decision at the present time. The President will be very open with the American people when he has that decision before him, but he shouldn't reach out for the decision and make it prematurely before he knows what the situation is on the ground in Bosnia at the time the decision must be made.

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: I really don't know when that will come. NATO is beginning its study of that issue. As I say, the next task in Bosnia is to put together the unified national government. We've taken things step by step in Bosnia, and it's worked pretty well that way. The elections came off well. There will be municipal elections that will be held probably on about the 20th of November. We hope that the three Presidents will be meeting in early October. So there are a series of steps that will help NATO determine the nature of the international presence -- what it will be, what kind of force and equipment will be needed -- and that will come along as we move through the fall. But there's no reason to reach out and make a decision that might be an unwise decision if it was made now before all the facts are available.

MR. RUSSERT: But the American people should know this morning, then, there is a possibility that American troops could remain on the ground after December 20 in Bosnia?

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: There's a possibility, if that recommendation comes to the President. He'll obviously consider that as he would any recommendation. There are all kinds of possibilities. But what I've said to you is that the IFOR will be out in a year, as the President said, and obviously we'll consider any recommendation that comes along after that.

MR. RUSSERT: One quick question on the Bosnian elections. The turnout was 104 percent, which is better than old-time Chicago.

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Tim, I think that's an inaccurate statement on your part. Actually, the voting population was larger than earlier anticipated. The turnout out was about 77 percent, which is a very good turnout. But this matter has been operated very well. The elections were managed very well by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. They were a success, despite all the people who predicted gloom and doom for them. We do have people chosen now for the high government offices, chosen by the electorate. It was a good turnout by Bosnian standards or even by our standards.

MR. RUSSERT: Before we go, one last final thought on the Middle East. I have the Israeli Ambassador coming on and one of Mr. Yasser Arafat's key advisers. What do you hope they say this morning?

SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: I hope they will say that it's time to calm the situation, to end the violence, to get back to the peace process. I hope everyone will commit themselves to that goal, because that's what we need. This is an emergency situation. Unless we do something now, we're likely to return to the violent period before the peace process took hold.

MR. RUSSERT: Secretary of State Warren Christopher, we thank you for coming in here with very little sleep, and good luck in your efforts.

Return to the Home Page
This is an official U.S. Government source for information on the WWW. Inclusion of non-U.S. Government links does not imply endorsement of contents.