Secretary Rice: breakthrough is not requiring Palestinian compliance before talks

IMRA ^ | 11-5-07

[SJackson]

Secretary Rice to traveling press: breakthrough is not requiring Palestinian compliance before talks, but will require before

[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: Secretary Rice says that the " breakthrough" is not requiring Palestinian compliance before final status talks but assures us that compliance will be required before the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state.

Don't count on it.

When the time comes for a photo-op creation of a sovereign Palestinian state but the Palestinians haven't complied she can either look into the cameras and say how pleased she is to have received a report that the PA has fulfilled its Road Map obligations or proclaim once again what a swell guy Mahmoud Abbas is and explain that he will only really have the power to comply when he actually has a sovereign state.]

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Roundtable with Traveling Press
Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Jerusalem, Israel
November 4, 2007

www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2007/11/94600.htm

...QUESTION:Yeah, (inaudible) this morning that the Israeli Prime Minister -- didn't seem very conciliatory. What's going on? Is --

SECRETARY RICE: People are negotiating. (Laughter.) People are negotiating.

QUESTION:To go back to -- right to the beginning, because it's back against the first -- exactly the same language as when you announced there was a conference or a meeting.

SECRETARY RICE: I think -- I think, Sylvie, that she put it best. They are negotiating. The atmosphere is good. Of course when you negotiate, you run into differences. That's why you negotiate. And they're working their way through those differences, but I think that what is really being -- is -- you're starting to see here is that people are starting to see Annapolis as the beginning of a process, not a single point in time. And that's extremely important because the more that they talk about the day after Annapolis and that they are going to have to continue their work to the establishment of a Palestinian state, the more likely they are to get to a place where they're actually going to end the conflict. And I think what you're seeing is that people are starting to address really difficult issues that they haven't addressed in a long time. And that means that, you know, they're negotiating and they're trying not to negotiate in the newspapers. They really are, which is remarkable.

QUESTION:Madame Secretary --

SECRETARY RICE: I know that disappoints all of you, but they really are trying not to negotiate in the newspapers.

QUESTION:On that same point, I mean, in Olmert and Abbas, I mean, you have two figures who are clearly (inaudible), but politically weak. And indeed, there have been reports in local media that -- you know, even some understandings that Olmert made, for example, were walked back by Livni, on the other hand, some of the commitments that Abbas made were walked back to some degree by his foreign minister. Can this really -- I mean, can they really come to an agreement by themselves without a stronger U.S. hand?

SECRETARY RICE: They're not supposed -- look, they're not coming to an agreement about the establishment of a Palestinian state. Let's not --

QUESTION:Even though (inaudible)?

SECRETARY RICE: Let's not misunderstand what it is they're trying to do. They are trying to establish that they have a basis for moving forward to negotiate the agreement on a Palestinian state. They're not going to, in the two weeks -- they wouldn't -- in the six weeks before they started it, nobody would have expected that this was going to be an agreement on the Palestinian state. And the more that they look forward, I think, to how they're actually going to get to an agreement, which is what you -- we really want them to do; after all, any joint document will not ultimately be worth the paper it's written on if eventually, they don't get to an actual agreement on a Palestinian state.

So what we've really been trying to be very clear on is that they want to come to Annapolis with some understandings about how they move forward. But increasingly, you hear them talking not so much about specifically what might be in this document, but about how they are going to actually get to the negotiation of a Palestinian state. And I think that's actually a very healthy move.

QUESTION:And that begins at Annapolis? I was wondering where this --

SECRETARY RICE: Well, again, I'm also not going to negotiate in the newspapers, but there is more talk about the day after now than I have heard in any of my other trips here.

QUESTION:And just one more. At that point, then, does the U.S. then play a stronger role in terms of the move beyond bilateral to --

SECRETARY RICE: Let me just go back for a second. Were we in this very room in February?

QUESTION:Yes.

(Laughter.)

SECRETARY RICE: Okay.

QUESTION:Several times.

SECRETARY RICE: Okay? When everybody said, is "political horizon" an empty phrase for "They can't talk about the real issues," everybody remember that?

QUESTION:This is off the record.

SECRETARY RICE: Yeah. (Laughter.)

QUESTION:We're not at liberty to talk --

SECRETARY RICE: They -- they --

(Laughter.)

QUESTION:We don't negotiate.

SECRETARY RICE: Yeah. They haven't gotten to where they are now because of the absence of a U.S. role in helping them get there. And what I am doing and what the President has done a couple of times in phone calls and what Steve Hadley was doing when he was out here is that we're helping them vector toward one another in what I think will be a very fruitful outcome, that I think they're going to be able to lay -- let everyone know that they are -- that they are laying a foundation and that they want to move to, actually, the establishment of a Palestinian state. And a lot of that is bilateral discussion, negotiation, understandings. A lot of it is that, you know, when we see problems, we try to help them bridge them.

But you know, I know that there's an image that I think is probably -- by the way, if you actually look at the history, probably not exactly how it happened. But there is an image of the United States just frenetically trying to get the two sides to an agreement. Okay; it hadn't worked. So with all due respect, I'll try it my way because it hasn't worked. In the final analysis, something has always prevented the Israelis and the Palestinians from getting there.

And I think that what they're doing now -- and the work we're doing with the Arabs, by the way, because one of the missing ingredients has always been the Arabs in on the ground floor rather than being asked late in the process to (inaudible). I think that we really are trying to lay the groundwork so that you have a reasonable prospect this time that they'll actually conclude an agreement.

QUESTION:Madame Secretary, I think this morning, it didn't sound like Foreign Minister Livni was talking about understanding. She was talking about potential steps on the ground to control the violence before the Annapolis conference even happens.

SECRETARY RICE: No, no, I think what -- I don't want to put words in her mouth, but when she talks about the implementation of the roadmap as being essential to the implementation of an agreement, that's our position too. You can't imagine the circumstances in which you're actually implementing an agreement for a Palestinian state and you haven't fulfilled the obligations of the roadmap which speak to both sides.

QUESTION:So that comes after?

SECRETARY RICE: It --

QUESTION:What you're saying is that you're comfortable that they will show up in Annapolis even with some rockets flying into (inaudible)?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I don't want to -- I'm not going to speak for them, but I don't think that they -- anybody believes that the kasams coming out of Gaza are the work of Abu Mazen and his team. And in fact, what you've got here is the Palestinians trying to establish themselves as a leadership -- an administration that can carry out certain security tasks, which is why what is going on with General Dayton and -- you know, the Palestinians starting to take over some security responsibilities is very important. It's why, by the way, the work Tony Blair is doing also in terms of state capacity is very important.

But I think everybody understands who is responsible for the violence now and it's coming out of Gaza and it's not controlled by the Palestinian Authority. That's not what the Israelis were -- are talking about. They're talking about and we are talking about that even if we're fortunate enough to get an agreement, you're still going to have to fulfill the first phase of the roadmap because you can't imagine a two-state solution working without those pieces in place, both on the Israeli side and on the Palestinian side.

QUESTION:Madame Secretary --

SECRETARY RICE: All right, you haven't had a question yet.

QUESTION:Why did you decide now to grant invitations this time? Is the day slipping?

SECRETARY RICE: No, the date is not slipping. It hasn't been set yet, but it's not slipping and -- (laughter) -- and it's just -- it's not quite right yet for invitations, but we'll -- people will -- I don't -- I have a feeling that when we do deliver invitations, we won't find many people who just say, "Well, I'm sorry, I'm busy."

QUESTION:Can I just --

SECRETARY RICE: Yeah, I think we can -- I think we'll be okay on that front.

QUESTION:Can I just follow up?

SECRETARY RICE: Sure.

QUESTION:I heard from somebody who works for the PLO in Washington that the Egyptians are pressuring the Palestinians not to go.

SECRETARY RICE: Wholly untrue.

QUESTION:You mentioned a phase one of the roadmap. Phase one also mentions -- stipulates that Israelis have to hunt any settlement activity during the phase one (inaudible)? It's getting in it (inaudible)?

SECRETARY RICE: What I've heard is that both parties understand that they both have obligations under phase one of the roadmap and they full well know what they are. They're still valid.

QUESTION:And just looking back to the security, while (inaudible) there, he's more difficult to (inaudible)?

SECRETARY RICE: I think they're all doing hard things in phase one. The real breakthrough, it was actually a few months ago now, is that for a long time, if you remember, the argument was you couldn't talk about the Palestinian state or core issues, which was in phase three, until you had completed phase one, which got us into an extended kind of circular problem for a long time about phase one. Well, that -- now we've broken through and they are, indeed, talking about phase -- what's in phase three, which is the establishment of a Palestinian state.

But it obviously wouldn't work unless phase one is actually implemented and it's just a practical matter. It would not work unless -- if you just read the -- I'd just encourage you to go read the phase one obligations and ask yourself, could you imagine establishing a Palestinian state without having met the phase one obligations? It just wouldn't work.

MR. MCCORMACK: Who wants the final question?

SECRETARY RICE: Nobody.

QUESTION:I'll cover it.

(Laughter.)

QUESTION:Just looking ahead to tomorrow just for a moment, are you going to raise with Abu Mazen the meeting he had last week with Hamas officials?

SECRETARY RICE: My --

QUESTION:(Inaudible.)

SECRETARY RICE: Well, it would be concerning if -- you know, if it looked like he was -- he said that he's not going to negotiate with Hamas, you know, with Hamas occupying Gaza and current circumstances. And I trust him to keep that obligation. I understand that the meeting yesterday was with some people who sought him out, not Hamas leadership who sought him out. And I -- you know, I will, of course, ask him about it but I'm not troubled by it.

QUESTION:And the final thought?

SECRETARY RICE: Uh-huh.

QUESTION:Is that -- have the Israelis today presented to you their proposals on paper? Do you expect the Palestinians to do that tomorrow or not?

SECRETARY RICE: I don't expect that today or tomorrow.

QUESTION:You haven't got --

SECRETARY RICE: I -- no, I -- this is a document that, again, is evolving as people's expectations evolve about what they're going to do after Annapolis. I last spoke with Musharraf on Wednesday, October 31st.

**MR. MCCORMACK: October 31th. (Laughter.) 2007/T18-8

[Joe Boucher]

As usual, this Rice lady wants Israel to give all and the f-ing Palestinians to give squat.
Great deal there Condi.
Israel should tell this administration to eat dirt.

[Guenevere]

bttt

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]

----------------------------

No point in requiring something you're not going to get, before or after.

[aruanan]

Secretary Rice: breakthrough is not requiring Palestinian compliance before talks

Does she realize that in a world characterized by Muslim/Arab hegemony, there will be no place for someone like her at all?

[TomGuy]

Secretary Rice says that the "breakthrough" is not requiring Palestinian compliance before final status talks but assures us that compliance will be required before the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state.

They don't have to worry about complying. Heck, they get the $$$ anyway. Arafat ran that scam for years and skimmed $$Billions for his private fortune, mostly from the good ole USA, the UN and Europe:

Bush wants $400 million for Palestinians

Posted by Enchante On News/Activism 10/30/2007 11:02:19 PM CDT · 85 replies AP via Yahoo News ^ | 10/30/07 | MARK LAVIE JERUSALEM - The top American diplomat in Jerusalem said Monday that the Bush administration is seeking $400 million in new aid for the Palestinian Authority. .... Walles said the administration will ask Congress for $400 million, half of which would be aimed at the private sector and infrastructure. He said $150 million would be earmarked for budget support and $25 million each would go to security and refugees. The allocation would help counter a huge deficit in the Palestinian budget that followed the Western aid cutoff. Foreign aid covers about half of the Palestinian Authority's operating budget. Since 1993, when...

[AmericanInTokyo]

She's ordering Chris Hill to go out there and do the same damn kind of stuff with North Korea. And with nothing in return.

And of course, we know where HER orders come from.

This all sucks. Big time.

[Esther Ruth]

Two of my favorite lines out of all this crud....

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I don’t want to — I’m not going to speak for them, but I don’t think that they — anybody believes that the kasams coming out of Gaza are the work of Abu Mazen and his team.

But I think everybody understands who is responsible for the violence now and it’s coming out of Gaza and it’s not controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

[BnBlFlag]

Well, at least she had potential at one time.

[bvw]

Should we cross-link this with the Citi in trouble thread?

[Flintlock]

Olmert + Rice = SELLOUT

Whatta crock. Kiss your reputation goodbye, Condy baby.

[rrrod]

“Peace in our time Rice”

[bvw]

I’m thinking: “big money trouble” - Citi et al - Dubai - Saudis - “here’s part of Jerusalem for yer fine considerations, gentle desert Royals.”

[tabsternager]

The alternatives to a two-state solution are:

1, to ethnically cleanse the land of all the Palestinians; or
2, to ethnically cleanse the land of all the Jews.

Both of those alternatives are unacceptable, in my view.

[Diogenesis]

MR. MCCORMACK: Who wants the final question?
SECRETARY RICE: Nobody.

In WW2, Dr. Rice would have responded to the 'Final Solution', however.
Quite eagerly.

[popdonnelly]

They won’t comply after the talks, either. Everyone outside of the State Department knows that.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Oh well, at least there is a nice university chancellorship waiting or something else over at the United Nations in the wings. It will all be a nice “Legacy” to cap off the Second Bush Administration.

[Joe Boucher]

It matters not how the Israelis try to negotiate a peace settlement with the Palis and the arabs.
The palis and mooselimbs are hell bent on doing a Hitler type deal on the Jews.

[Tolik]

Giving mixed signals was one of the reasons that our enemies decided that they can attack us. To give them an “attitude adjustment” and prove them wrong, that was the early and right! course of action. Rethinking of the status-quo fetish in the MidEast and policy of the draining swamps to bring some light after the decades of dysfunction there came as a strong alternative to the all other tried and failed policies.

Now we are back to the mixed messages. Very disappointing.