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It is a great pleasure to be here for this important conference. Under Les Gelb's leadership, the Council on Foreign Relations has continued to do great work -- including its enormously constructive role in the Middle East Economic Summits. Today's gathering marks another milestone in that process, and I want to express my appreciation to Les, to Henry Siegman, and to the entire Council for their outstanding efforts.
Looking at this audience, I am struck by the fact that an event like this would have been unthinkable just three and a half years ago when I became Secretary of State. You are indeed pioneers of peace -- entrepreneurs and executives from the United States, Israel, and across the Arab world, now preparing for your third Economic Summit this November in Cairo. Starting in Casablanca in 1994 and continuing last year in Amman, the relationships you have developed and the projects you have launched have shattered taboos that stood for half a century. You have established an unprecedented web of contacts and cooperation. You are helping to lay the essential foundation upon which a more prosperous, stable, and peaceful Middle East can be built.
Today, I want to talk to you about the critical link between peace and prosperity in the Middle East. Neither can be fully secured without the other. Both must be pursued if we are to help lift the region beyond its legacy of conflict. At the core of all our efforts, of course, has been the historic process of Arab-Israeli peacemaking. The quest for peace in the region began more than 20 years ago, and American leadership has been critical to each of its successes: the disengagement agreements after the 1973 War; the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel; the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference; and the remarkable achievements of the past three years.
Our vital national interests and unique leadership role confer upon the United States a special responsibility to ensure that these tremendous strides toward peace are preserved. Peace will strengthen the security of Israel and our key Arab partners. Peace will enhance regional stability and our access to the Gulf's vital oil supplies.
Peace will also allow us and our friends to focus on the common dangers that threaten us all -- from rogue states like Iraq and Iran to violent extremism and terror.At this time of transition in Israel, as we await the formation of a new government, it is worth taking a few minutes to remind ourselves just how much the peace process has accomplished since 1993 -- and how great a stake we have in continued progress.
First, Israel and the Palestinians have reached a series of landmarkagreements. Palestinians now govern themselves throughout Gaza and most cities of the West Bank. Israeli soldiers no longer face the burden of patrolling those streets. Where once there was an intifada, Israeli and Palestinian security forces now cooperate to root out the terrorist infrastructure of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The Palestinian National Council voted overwhelmingly this spring to remove from its charter those egregious clauses denying Israel's right to exist.
Second, Israel's 1993 agreement with the Palestinians helped make possible the peace treaty with Jordan one year later. Today, Israel and Jordan are establishing cooperative relations across the full range of political, economic, and security issues. Tens of thousands of Israeli and Jordanian tourists have visited each others' countries. Later this month, Jordan will host a reunion of 200 Arab and Israeli teenagers -- participants in a program called Seeds of Peace dedicated to building a warm peace. And I will never forget King Hussein's moving eulogy at Prime Minister Rabin's funeral. The King's presence and his eloquence on such a sad day profoundly reflected how much the region has changed.
Third, the progress achieved in the peace process has helped spur unprecedented movement in Israel's relations with the broader Arab world. Diplomatic offices have been exchanged with Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania, and trade offices with Qatar and Oman. The secondary economic boycott has all but withered away. With the exception of Iraq, Libya, and Sudan, every Arab League member has participated in some aspect of the peace process -- from the multilateral negotiations on issues like water, refugees, and arms control to the Economic Summits in Casablanca and Amman.
Perhaps no single event better captured this extraordinary transformation than the Summit of Peacemakers held three months ago in Sharm el-Sheikh. Virtually overnight, President Clinton and President Mubarak brought together 29 world leaders, including 14 from the Arab world. They gathered not to celebrate a breakthrough in the peace process, but to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel to defend the process against a wave of terrorism.
These are truly historic achievements. They have advanced the vital interests of Israel, her Arab partners, as well as the United States. They have come about with the help of a consistent American approach to the Middle East that has been guided by a set of core principles. Above all, these include our unshakable commitment to Israel's security and to a strong U.S.-Israeli partnership -- and our determination to work with Israel and her Arab neighbors to achieve our common goals of peace and security. We know that there can be no real peace without security, and there can be no real security without peace.
That is why we will work with Israel and the Palestinians to help them implement the agreements they have reached and to resolve outstanding issues. We will help to strengthen Israel's peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan. We will continue to work toward a comprehensive peace through a resumption of negotiations between Israel and Syria and between Israel and Lebanon. And we will strive to help deepen and broaden relations between Israel and the wider Arab world.
In each of these areas, the United States will work closely with Israel's new government, led by Prime Minister-elect Netanyahu. The recent elections once again underscored the vibrance and strength of Israel's democracy. The United States enjoyed a strong and productive relationship with the governments of Prime Ministers Rabin and Peres -- statesmen of extraordinary vision and courage. Now we hope to build an equally strong and productive relationship with the new Israeli Prime Minister and his team.
President Clinton and I have been in close touch with Mr. Netanyahu since the elections, and we look forward to welcoming him to Washington soon after he forms his government. We will be consulting closely with him and with our Arab partners on how best to sustain the peace process.
In this regard, we welcome Prime Minister Netanyahu's commitment to continue the peace process. We are urging our Arab friends not to prejudge the new government in Israel. Now, during this period of transition, it is essential to avoid actions or statements that close doors and risk polarizing the situation and raising tensions. It is critical that we remain focused on preserving the achievements of the past three years and maintaining the momentum necessary to make new gains. It is also critical that we maintain our commitment to building the economic foundations necessary for a lasting peace. Growing opportunity can ease the conflicts and hatreds that have held back the Middle East for half a century. Rising prosperity can help the Middle East move forward into a new millenium of reconciliation, cooperation and full integration with the global economy.
This commitment to a prosperous peace is consistent with President Clinton's strategic judgment that America's economic and political interests are intertwined around the world. Opening markets and expanding trade and investment abroad not only creates jobs at home, it strengthens our political relationships and advances our strategic interests at the same time. As a former Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, said over half a century ago, "When goods move, soldiers don't." That is precisely the principle behind the Middle East Economic Summit process.
Our commitment to this process reflects our conviction that while it may take politicians and diplomats to make peace, it takes workers and businesses to build peace. Building peace means innaugurating the new bus service between Israel and Jordan -- and regular flights between Ben Gurion Airport and Amman. Building peace means the regional airport at Aqaba to bring tourists to the spot where Jordan and Israel meet astride the mountains and deserts along the Red Sea. Building peace means a new power plant on the shores of the Mediterranean in Gaza. And building peace means the Amoco pipeline -- the "peace pipeline" -- that will supply Egyptian natural gas to Israel.
These projects embody the vision that first brought many of us together in Casablanca nearly two years ago. Then, last October in Amman, we agreed to establish a set of regional institutions to promote the region's economic development and integration: The Middle East Development Bank will support key private sector projects and focus on the region's critical infrastructure needs. We hope to open the offices of the Bank at the Cairo Economic Summit this fall.
The Middle East-Mediterranean Travel and Tourism Association will open the region's wonders to the world and spur economic growth. The Regional Business Council will become a vital forum for exchanging business information, developing investment opportunities and building a world-class business environment.
As you have been discussing at this Conference, we will build on these achievements at the Cairo Summit. The Summit will focus government and business leaders on the essential steps that must be taken in key areas such as deregulation, privatization, and other economic reforms. And it will emphasize the role of small and medium enterprises in the region.
Most important, the Cairo Summit will bring together hundreds of business people from across the region and around the world to generate business deals and projects. The Summit will once again dramatize the economic benefits of peace -- and the immense potential for economic cooperation across the Middle East. But to fulfill that potential, governments should remove the economic obstacles that stand in the way of growth and opportunity. Governments should take steps to overcome the legacy of excessivegovernment regulation and inefficient public investment if they want to attract local and foreign capital back to the region.
They should tear down tariff and non-tariff barriers if they want to encourage trade, especially among the countries of the region. And they should reform capital markets, update tax systems and ensure fair business practices if they want to compete in the global economy of the twenty-first century.
Some encouraging reforms are taking root. Liberalization has spurred growth and attracted foreign investment to Tunisia and Morocco. Jordan's new investment code is helping to attract foreign capital -- much of which is being invested in that country's spectacular tourism boom. Now Egypt is privatizing companies, reforming banking laws, opening up business loans, and streamlining customs procedures to facilitate trade. We are working with Egypt to support these and other reforms through the partnership led by President Mubarak and Vice President Gore.
Israel, too, has a new opportunity to deepen the already far-reaching economic reforms that it has undertaken in recent years. We welcome Prime Minister-elect Netanyahu's commitment to intensify essential reforms, such as privatization and deregulation. This course will help sustain the remarkable economic growth and inward investment that Israel has enjoyed since the peace process began to produce results.
As the economies of the region become more open and integrated, economic growth in Israel can present opportunities to Israel's Arab neighbors -- especially the Palestinians. Israel's new government can seize the initiative by finding ways to expand trade with Jordan and increase economic interaction with the West Bank and Gaza. The United States is prepared to help by providing free trade privileges to the Palestinians similar to those that Israel enjoys. The Clinton Administration is working with Congress to secure this authority.
The political and economic futures of the Middle East are inextricably linked. The success of the peace process over the last three years has been the essential condition for creating the region's new economic opportunities. The readiness of business, in turn, to seize these opportunities has helped to strengthen the process by demonstrating the potential of peace to lift the lives of both Arabs and Israelis.
Today, the challenge we face is clear: We must ensure that our efforts on both the diplomatic and economic fronts are sustained -- and that our shared goal of peace and prosperity continues to be advanced.
Ours is an uncommon enterprise with a common purpose. We ask leaders and peoples to take risks for peace. We ask companies and entrepreneurs to take risks for profit -- in the name of peace. We ask governments to encourage business to take those risks by reforming and deregulating their economies. And we ask the whole world to join us.
Thank you very much.
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