Secretary Condoleezza Rice En route Tel Aviv, Israel

IMRA ^ | 6-15-08

[SJackson]

Secretary Condoleezza Rice En route Tel Aviv, Israel [implies Israeli security takes second place to improving Palestininian lives]

"And I understand the security considerations as well as anyone, but the obligation was undertaken to improve the lives of Palestinians and we're going to have to work very hard if we're going to make that true in a broader sense."

Remarks to the Traveling Press Secretary Condoleezza Rice En route Tel Aviv, Israel June 14, 2008 www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2008/06/105910.htm

SECRETARY RICE: Okay. Look, why don't we just go directly to questions. You heard the President's press conference today, and we're now headed to Jerusalem, so we can just go directly to your questions.

QUESTION: Can you respond to the -- Israel's announcement yesterday, I believe, of a new 1,300 home settlement in East Jerusalem, and how you expect to be able to, you know, talk to both sides about this since that's precisely the thing that the Palestinians regard as the greatest obstacle?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, it will certainly be a topic of conversation and I expect to raise it with all of Israel's officials and leaders. And we've said before that this is a time to try and build confidence, and this is simply not helpful to building confidence. And so we'll have a further discussion of it, but I intend to have a discussion of Roadmap obligations generally, and this is obviously a Roadmap obligation that's not being met.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, you are not annoyed that every time you go there, there is a new announcement of settlements, either just before you come or just after you leave?

SECRETARY RICE: Unfortunately, there have been a few whether I'm coming or not. I think that - look, it's a problem. And I think it's a problem that we'e - that I'm going to address with the Israelis. And it's also - as the President said today, it's also every reason - or it gives us every reason that we really ought to be determining the boundaries of the state, because what's in Israel will be in Israel at that point, and what's in Palestine will be in Palestine. And that's the best way to resolve this, but you know, I repeat, we've talked a great deal about the importance of Roadmap obligations, and this one isn't being met.

QUESTION: Palestinian Prime Minister Fayyad this week expressed remarkable pessimism in public, saying he just didn't think it was possible to get a peace agreement this year. Why is it? What makes you think it's possible in, you know, seven months now?

SECRETARY RICE: Because I know that the parties are working very seriously and they're talking about the most serious of issues. It's not easy, and these issues have never been easy. It's the reason they don't have an end to their conflict. It's because the issues are hard. I know that there are those who talk about the difficulties of this particular moment. I'm hard-pressed to find a time when there weren't difficult circumstances in the Middle East.

And so the parties, I think, are intending to keep pressing. I've talked to the negotiators, to Foreign Minister Livni and to Abu Allah. I've talked to Prime Minister Olmert and to President Abbas. They expressed the desire to get this done. And we're going to work as hard as possible with them to get it done. But I do think it's important for everyone to stay focused on the goal and stay focused on the work at hand, rather than several months before the end of the year, trying to determine what the outcome is going to be, and expressing pessimism. I don't think it helps to express pessimism at this point. There's hard work ahead, but it helps to focus on the work.

And I should - just on Prime Minister Fayyad, he is focusing very intently on the -- as he puts it, creating the institutions of a nascent state. And that's why we're supporting him in the work he's doing to build the security forces, the Jenin Project, the Bethlehem conference. On a number of these scores, he has had a lot of support and I think he's done really very well. And so I'll also have an opportunity to talk about what is another track of Annapolis. The negotiations are one track, but the - improving the lives of the Palestinians and building the institutions of the Palestinian state is another track, and that's the one in which I'm most involved with Prime Minister Fayyad.

QUESTION: You're going this time, just about on the one-year anniversary of the Hamas takeover in Gaza. Were you concerned the other day to see some Israeli military officials say that they would give the truce talks in Egypt about two weeks to work or they would reinvade? And where do you see that truce situation - the truce negotiations going at this point?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I'm not going to comment on every comment that is made by Israeli officials, either identified or not in - about the Gaza situation. Everybody knows that the situation in Gaza is extremely difficult, that Hamas has - is effectively holding the population of Gaza hostage, that they are continuing to participate in and allow others to participate in firing rockets against innocent Israeli populations. And we all know too that the Egyptians are trying mightily to find a solution.

So I - this is something that the Israelis are dealing directly with the Egyptians on, and so I'm not in a position to comment about the back-and-forth between Israel and Egypt. But I think we all know what needs to happen in Gaza. The rocket fire needs to stop. There needs to be a more sustainable circumstance for the people of Gaza, meaning that there will need to be sustained openings of the crossings, enough at least to permit humanitarian conditions to - humanitarian needs to be met. And ultimately, I would hope that they can get back to something that looks more like the Movement and Access Agreement of November 2005, which everybody's focused on as an endpoint.

So we know that that's what needs to be done in Gaza, and it's my understanding that Egypt and Israel are both focusing there as well as the Palestinians. I just want to repeat that the Palestinian Authority, of course, is the legitimate authority for the people of Gaza as well. They spend some 58 percent of their budget on the people of Gaza, so it's not as if the Palestinian Authority is not involved concerning affairs in Gaza. And I should mention one other point, which is, of course, we've worked with the Egyptians on some technical ways to deal with the smuggling through tunnels and the like. The Egyptians are very concerned about the security situation in Gaza and about the use of Gaza's territory for rearming of terrorists. It's not in Egypt's interest either.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, what do you think about President Assad attending the celebrations of Bastille Day next month in Paris?

SECRETARY RICE: As I understand it, a lot of people are going to attend the celebration of Bastille Day. My understanding, and we had long discussions with the French, this is in accord - it's in conjunction with the Mediterranean summit that they hold, which, as I understand it, is about trying to make relations among the states of the Mediterranean more harmonious, has more of an economic and practical caste to it than a political caste.

But I also know that the - we and the French have completely consonant views on the situation in Lebanon, as evidenced by - evidenced by the joint statement that President Sarkozy and Bush issued today. We have consonant views on the Annapolis process and what needs to be done there. President Sarkozy will be going to Israel, I think at the end of the week. And then we certainly have very similar views about what needs to be done in the Middle East in total. So I don't have any doubt that any contacts with Bashar al-Assad will be, from our point of view, contacts that communicate the right messages in what are shared French and American goals and objectives for the Middle East.

QUESTION: You talked about the importance of deciding on the borders because that's one way of -- and I wonder if you've given any serious thought to the possibility of trying to reach an agreement just on borders.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, part of the difficulty in negotiations like this is that the issues are intertwined. You know, borders and security, issues concerning Jerusalem, and issues concerning borders, and issues concerning refugees -- they're all part -- and by the way, not only the big four of final status, but also issues of state-to-state relations, issues of economic relations. They're all very intertwined. And I believe the parties have adopted the right strategy here, which is that they work on all of them, recognizing that some may move more quickly than others, but also recognizing that nothing can be agreed till everything is agreed.

And it's just very difficult to imagine a circumstance under which you could separate somehow the border issue from these other important issues. That doesn't mean that you can't work on the border issue separate from the others, but it's hard to imagine that you could really resolve it without dealing with the companion issues.

QUESTION: I'd heard that you were thinking of this, and it made no sense to me, which is why I wondered.

SECRETARY RICE: No, I was not thinking of that. I've encouraged the parties not to hesitate to push ahead if something is moving, but the idea that you could have a separate agreement, I think that just doesn't make sense.

QUESTION: The Israeli political situation has probably gotten even more complicated since you were there last. And I know you don't like to comment on internal politics, but you're going to be seeing sort of a lot of the relevant parties here. To what extent are you concerned that their own internal political positionings and so forth will make things difficult for you to have a receptive ear?

SECRETARY RICE: I can only go on what I've been told by all of the relevant parties, as you call them, which is that they're committed to the Annapolis process, they're committed to trying to move the negotiations forward, they're committed to trying to meet Israel's obligations under the various tracks of Annapolis. And I will treat the parties in their respective roles: prime minister, foreign minister, defense minister. Those are the meetings that I'm having. And we'll have an opportunity to talk about moving forward on the peace process and moving forward on Israel's obligations. And you know, as I said, the Middle East is never uncomplicated, so best just to focus on the task at hand.

QUESTION: Do you still plan trilaterals?

SECRETARY RICE: Yes.

QUESTION: And also, do you want to speak about the roadblocks again, or it's something that is (inaudible)?

SECRETARY RICE: I am having a trilateral with -- I think the -- is it the Barak -- I'm trying to remember the order. I think Barak and Fayyad is tomorrow, and Livni and Abu Alaa is Monday, I believe. And yes, in the trilateral that is really about Roadmap implementation and improving the lives of the Palestinians, we will talk about movement and access issues.

Now, if you remember, we've tried to make this more concrete by having, for instance, a focus on an area, like Jenin, where you have security forces come in for the Palestinians; Israelis can then step back and allow Palestinians to have more freedom of action. You can then just work on the movement and access issues, as we've done between Jenin and Nablus, for instance. And then economic projects of the kind that Prime Minister Blair is doing and some smaller ones of the kind that USAID and the Palestinians themselves are doing can then fill in.

And so I think this is a more concrete way to go about it because just focusing on numbers, I mentioned to you that focusing on 50 roadblocks and then you learn that only some proportion of them really matters to movement and access, I don't think we want to get into a quantitative game. And so I think this is really a better way of going about it.

QUESTION: A quick one on that?

SECRETARY RICE: Yeah.

QUESTION: I mean, let's not -- let's actually talk about the qualitative issue then. Do you think, in a qualitative sense, that the Israeli Government has made significant efforts to keep its obligations since you announced the 50 to actually substantially improve movement and access?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, again, if you look at trying to do this by area, I do think that there are improvements in Jenin on all of the elements, improvements on security with the Palestinians having those -- having responsibilities there, improvements in terms of movement and access, and the beginnings of improvements in terms of the economic side. I am told that there are other areas where there have been some improvements in movement and access as well; for instance, you know rather than -- more random stopping of vehicles rather than every vehicle, that kind of thing.

But it's not enough, and there certainly and clearly needs to be more. And I understand the security considerations as well as anyone, but the obligation was undertaken to improve the lives of Palestinians and we're going to have to work very hard if we're going to make that true in a broader sense.

Okay, thank you.

========================

Statements by FM Livni and Secy Rice

http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=39641

Statements by Israel Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice prior to their meeting in Jerusalem Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sunday, 15 June 2008

FM LIVNI: I would like to welcome Secretary Rice to the region. This is an important visit during the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. The situation in the Middle East, like always, is complicated. And while negotiating with the Palestinians, we also need to address difficulties on the ground, especially the situation in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas, as you are well aware.

So we are going to discuss the whole situation in the region, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the Iranian issue, and I'm sure that it's going to be fruitful. Thanks.

SEC. RICE: Thank you very much, Tzipi, for welcoming me here again. I look forward to our discussions, to getting an update on how your discussions are going with Abu Ala concerning the peace process. We've stayed in constant contact and so I feel that I have a good sense of where you are and where you're trying to go.

It is an important time for the peace process, and I agree with you, the situation in the Middle East is always complicated. So we mustn't let that deter us from seeking the solution to the crisis, to the conflict that you have been working toward.

I've told the Foreign Minister that I will also raise the issue of settlements, because I'm very concerned that at a time when we need to build confidence between the parties, the continued building and the settlement activity has the potential to harm the negotiations going forward. And so we'll talk about that as well. We'll also talk about the importance of stopping the violence from the Gaza Strip where Israeli citizens continue to endure the constant barrage of rockets, and that must stop. So we have a lot on our plate. I will also have an opportunity to talk with the Foreign Minister about what I heard in Europe concerning the situation with Iran and to update you on Javier Solana's efforts there. So I look forward to the discussions.

[badpacifist]

Hope someone stuffs targeting data on Iran in her briefcase, just so she doesn’t waste jet fuel.

[iopscusa]

This SOS is a POS and maintains delusional thinking :
I’m very concerned that at a time when we need to build confidence between the parties...dhe’s a fool or a tool, either way she is no friend of Israelis!

[padre35]

These late term Sec State visits to Israel always make me a touch nervous, who knows what she will demand of the Israelis? And who knows what Olemrt is prepared to do while he still clings to power?

That is the “perfect storm” of instability for Israel.

[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]

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

Everybody knows that the situation in Gaza is extremely difficult, that Hamas has - is effectively holding the population of Gaza hostage,

In the same way George Bush is holding the population of the United States hostage. Hamas was elected, Condi not only supported but insisted on their participation in elections.

Now, if you remember, we've tried to make this more concrete by having, for instance, a focus on an area, like Jenin, where you have security forces come in for the Palestinians; Israelis can then step back and allow Palestinians to have more freedom of action.

That's working great---

IDF officer: removing more roadblocks means rockets in West Bank; PA not fighting terrorists - just local crime

[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:

Israel Radio Carmella Menashe's report this morning did not even get mention in the half hour recap immediately after it, nor in the hourly news reports that followed.

While the report certainly is relevant for coverage of Secretary of State Rice's visit - since Rice is pressing Israel to remove more roadblocks - for some reason the news editors decided not to "connect the dots" and mention this consideration in the coverage of the Rice visit. The issue apparently was not also subject to any follow up questions to various relevant politicians and officials in the morning programs.]

IDF officers warn against West Bank roadblock removal Jun. 15, 2008 JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1212659734207&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

The removal of West Bank roadblocks will lead to the fire of high-trajectory weapons from the territory at Israel and to an enhancement of terror groups' capabilities, IDF officers have warned.

A senior IDF officer told Israel Radio on Sunday that the Palestinian Authority policemen who had recently deployed in Jenin were not dealing with security or confronting Hamas but were merely maintaining law and order.

A defense official said that even though the PA policemen were operating better that in the past, there was no justice establishment or prison cells to hold terror suspects, who were released quickly in a "revolving door" policy.

[mkjessup]

Chamberlain would heartily endorse Condi-the-Piano-Player’s approach to diplomacy.

Sell out your friends, toady to your enemies, talk out of all three sides of your mouth.

[RoadTest]

I think Michael Savage hit the bullseye when he said that she is a schoolmarm.
That tells me she’s been promoted beyond her level of competence.

Why is she interested in “improving the lives of ‘Palestinians’ “? Is she Secretary of State of a nation called Palestine?

[bearsgirl90]

These late term Sec State visits to Israel always make me a touch nervous, who knows what she will demand of the Israelis? And who knows what Olemrt is prepared to do while he still clings to power?
That is the “perfect storm” of instability for Israel.

I totally agree.
Continued prayers for the nation of Israel.

[em2vn]

The trip is a cover for her going to another KISS concert. This time she gets a backstage pass.

[Nachum]

Rice = lame duck

quack quack quack

[bvw]

It is indeed, that time of year: BEE SEASON.

And the queen is disturbed.

[bvw]

Beeing there:

So it's even weirder when I consider the thousands of bees who have made their way to my home recently in order to buzz around my light one last time and die. Surely if there's something specifically deadly about my house, something murderous to bees and all bee brethren,

[cmsgop]

LOL!

[CyberAnt]

“Hope someone stuffs targeting data on Iran in her briefcase.”

That’s close to what I was thinking .. maybe this visit is to firm up the PLAN against Iran.

Did Iraq govt give permission for Israel to overfly - shortening the trip to Iran and the trip home.

Or .. maybe Israel has new visual information which they need to share with us - BEFORE ISRAEL ATTACKS IRAN.

It’s close .. very close.

If you know how to pray .. I’d start now!

[American in Israel]

Perhaps it is not our responsibility to improve Palestinians lives, but the Palestinians.

Perhaps if they went to school and work instead of Jihad they would have better lives.

Perhaps the moon-bat liberal State Department will get a clue some day.

[badpacifist]

If you were Israel and you had some of these things on your mind.....
An administration that isn't favorable to us and won't be anytime in the near future may take power in the US in a few short months.
The country which has professes to erase us off the map will acquire a nuke soon.
When we do what we have to do the whole world will jump on us, no matter how little or how much force we use
We are good but this isn't Osirak or one target in Syria this is many targets in many areas which would require multiples sorties which would be almost impossible for us
Bush may not do it for us
If we won't and Israel has to then this looks like the most likely way me. I hope we do it with conventional weapons because we could. The B61-11 earth-penetrating version of the B61. It was configured initially to have a "low" 10 kiloton yield, 66.6 percent of a Hiroshima bomb.

[justiceseeker93]

Why is she interested in "improving the lives of Palestinians"?

By choosing a Hamas government in their last election, the majority of Palis were telling the world that they are not interested in improving their own lives, rather in more terrorism and violence against Israel and the West.

There is no way that the US can help to "improve the lives of the Palestinian people" with the present Pali government and the present attitudes of the vast majority of Palestinians. And even if (hypothetically) the US could help to improve their lives, that certainly wouldn't change their hateful attitude to the US and the West.

[CyberAnt]

Well .. I do remember that we sold Israel a lot of bunker-busting bombs. But I do know Israel has nuclear weapons too.

I have more faith in Bush than I do in McCain.

IIRC we recently had war games with some of our allies .. Could it be in preparation for a multi-national assault ..??

[RightWhale]

One thing for sure: following the Sec’y around won’t provide knowledge of what is really going on.

[hinckley buzzard]

Why is she interested in “improving the lives of ‘Palestinians’ “?

It seems to be an astonishing reprise of the discredited notions which stalled progress in the Cold War for so long--the idea that our enemies' antagonism has some kind of "roots," eg in things like poverty, as if that was our fault. So if we can fatten them up a bit they will be grateful and not hate us anymore and even abandon their entire reason for being, the destruction of Israel.

A profoundly stupid idea which has absolutely no basis in the history of the world, but then when have liberals' ways of thinking ever been tied to reality.

[lonestar]

Perhaps if they went to school and work instead of Jihad they would have better lives.

Do they get paid to gather in large groups and throw rocks?

[RoadTest]

Thank you!

[RoadTest]

You’re right. Thank you.

[tessalu]

Condi, turn around and go home, for there already is a Palestinian State, and that is Jordan. It is over 70% Palestinian now, and it even has a Palestinian Queen Rania.
So do not waste your time and fuel trying to create a second Palestinian state right beside another one. USA has no money to waste on this nonsense.

[Unicorn]

She is only saying what pres.Bush wants her to say.

[mkjessup]

She is only saying what pres.Bush wants her to say.

You'll get no argument from me on that FRiend!

What is ironic, is that as the GWB Express roars down the tracks to Legacyville(c), when it comes time for historians to render a verdict on the eight years of Bush II, they will most likely paint a picture of an enormously popular and determined President beginning the War on Terror post 9/11, and then losing his vision in his second term, essentially surrendering to Kim Jong Il in North Korea under the facade of 'Six Party Talks', flip-flopping on Iran, one day saying that 'all options are on the table' and then declaring that he hopes his legacy to his successor will be diplomatic initiatives with Iran.

Especially ironic is witnessing the man who once said that "you are either with us, or you are with the terrorists", pushing Israel to negotiate with, compromise with, and sign off on his 'Roadmap to Rest-In-Peace Israel' WITH terrorists!

You are absolutely correct that Lil Miss Condi says what the President wants her to say, but it is also clearly evident that our illustrious SecState was long ago seduced by the Foggy Bottom Side of the Farce, and is operating in a wholly pro-Arabist frame of mind.

Who would have thought that after liberating millions of Muslims in both Afghanistan and Iraq, eliminating the regime of the Taliban and knocking out one of the three legs of the 'Axis of Evil' that our President would be finishing up his second term by allowing the other two legs of that 'Axis' to thumb their nose at the West and do what they damn well please?

On Election night 2004, I would have called BS on anybody suggesting that.

Now we finally see that 'compassionate conservative' is just a code phrase for 'RINO'.

[El Gato]

Well, y'all won't have Condi Rice to kick around much longer.

I do think that National Security Adviser suited her better than SecState. Head of an agency tends to get captured by the agency, and as we all know, or should, state is just full of Arabists, and a certain type that really doesn't have the best interests of the United States at heart.

[El Gato]

Well, y'all won't have Condi Rice to kick around much longer.

And, I meant to add, you're not likely to like her replacement nearly so well.

[SJackson]

Well, y'all won't have Condi Rice to kick around much longer....I do think that National Security Adviser suited her better than SecState....And, I meant to add, you're not likely to like her replacement nearly so well.

That's very true, it's a shame she has little to recommend here other than the possibility of an Obama successor. Like it or not there have been few US diplomatic successes the last few years. Making a palestinian state America's first international priority, the cornerstone of American foreign policy in GWB's words, was absurd. In a world where till the last couple weeks no Arab state recognized the government in Iraq, where Iran is arming in the face of weak sanctions, where oil prices surge and North Korea thumbs their nose at us, all the while "friendly" Arab governments forment terror and incitement, creating a palestinian state was not the most important task facing America overseas. And even there we can't stop the incitement or terror, despite the billions we've poared in. Wrong priorities, and she failed at those.

[Convert from ECUSA]

Ain’t that the truth!

[Convert from ECUSA]

You’ve got that right!

[Convert from ECUSA]

You sure nailed it! What ever happened to “you’re either with us or you’re with the terrorists?” (rhetorical question). Seems that phrase was thrown on the wayside a long time ago, and that legacy-train just keeps on chuggin’ down that track.

[American in Israel]

Do they get paid to gather in large groups and throw rocks?

Not that I know of. The closest to that is when the close a school and bus them to a rock throwing party for media events. No pay involved, just "fun" for the kids.