Time For Arab Moves

In an exclusive interview, Bill Clinton outlines his views on the
- peace talks and other Mideast issues.

TRUDE B. FELDMAN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT

ill Clinton says that
as president he in-
tends to make sure
L
the momentum of the
'D. Mideast peace negotiations
is maintained, and that he
will urge the Arab states to
make reciprocal gestures to-
ward Israel in response to
the Rabin government's con-
ciliatory moves.
During a recent interview,
Mr. Clinton called for an end
to the Arab boycott against
Israel and said that he
would make renewed efforts
to end this form of "econom-
ic warfare."
He credited Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin
with "breathing new life"
into the negotiations since
• coming to power last sum-
mer by curbing settlements
- and taking other measures
to build confidence in rela-
tions with the Palestinians
and other Arab parties.
"Now," Mr. Clinton said, "I
think it's time for the Arabs
to make more moves toward
Israel."
He said that "at least one
of the Arab countries should
- break the ice and end the
boycott against Israel. That
would be the best thing they
could do. If several Arab
countries decided to do that,
in response to some of the
moves Israel has made, I
think we'd be well on our
way to negotiating an agree-
ment under United Nations
Resolution 242 and the
Camp David Accords."
He noted that Israel "is
still waiting for a credible of-
fer of peace from most of her
Arab neighbors."
Describing the Arab boy-
cott as "economic warfare,"
Mr. Clinton said the U.S.
should "make it clear that
we will no longer turn a

blind eye to this practice."
He added that he supports
Sen. Al Gore's initiative to
prohibit Defense Depart-
ment contracts with coun-
tries adhering to the boycott.
Mr. Clinton said that as
president he will "act more
vigorously to stop the spread
of dangerous missiles in the
Mideast, and insist on a
strong international effort
to keep weapons of mass de-
struction out of the hands of
nations like Iran, Iraq, Syr-
ia, and Libya.
"Our policy must include
not only an effort to reduce
this spread," he said, "but a
reaffirmation of our strong
commitment to maintaining
Israel's qualitative military
edge over its potential ad-
versaries." He added: a
Clinton administration will
treat the Arab-Israeli con-
flict "as one in which the
survival of Israel is at
stake."
While crediting the Bush
administration for bringing
the Israelis and Arabs to-
gether, Mr. Clinton said it is
the role of the U.S. to serve
"as an honest broker and, at
times, as a catalyst, but we
must also maintain our spe-
cial commitment to our de-
mocratic partner, Israel, and
its overall security."
He stated that no side
should be expected to make
unilateral concessions. "The
Palestinians ought to have
the right to determine their
own future within the guide-
lines set out in the Camp
David Accords. On the oth-
er hand, they should not
have the right to determine
Israel's future."
The key to a lasting peace
in the region, he said, is "to
create the conditions in
which all parties believe it

is in their interest to make
peace — conditions under
which they can trust each
other enough to make agree-
ments, and to have some as-
surance that the agreements
will be kept."
Lasting peace, he added,
has to include an end to the
illegal Arab boycott of Israel,
the establishment of normal
economic and trade rela-
tions between Israel and its
neighbors and the creation
of multilateral agreements
to protect the area's envi-
ronment and ensure that
every nation has an ade-
quate supply of water.
On a range of other is-
sues, Mr. Clinton:
• reiterated his opposition
to the creation of a Pales-
tinian state but added that
the U.S. should not take a
position on " the precise po-
litical arrangements under
which Palestinian rights
should be exercised" with-
in the guidelines of the
Camp David Accords;
• called for strong special
operations forces in the mil-
itary to deal with terrorist
threats;
• asserted that "excessive
arms sales" to certain Arab
states have weakened Is-
rael's overall security;
• said he recognizes
Jerusalem as Israel's capi-
tal and believes Jerusalem
ought to remain an undi-
vided city, but noted that
"timing is the real issue"
and that to move the U.S.
Embassy from Tel Aviv at
this time would be disrup-
tive to the peace process.
Mr. Clinton pointed out
that the sale of arms to the
Mideast should be limited so
as not to destabilize the re-
gion, stressing that Israel's
qualitative military edge

President elect Clinton: Will there be Arab pressure?

-

must be maintained.
"I believe we can, and
should, provide for the ad-
equate defenses of our coali-
tion partners in the region
in a way that doesn't threat-
en Israel's security."
The U.S., he said, needs
to "enhance our military and
technical cooperation with
Israel so that it can better
meet the growing threat
from unconventional
weapons." In this context, he
added that he supports
funding for the development
of Israel's Arrow anti-tacti-
cal ballistic missile.
Mr. Clinton, who visited
Israel with his wife, Hillary,
11 years ago on a religious
pilgrimage, noted with pride
that under his stewardship,
Arkansas now has a nation-
al training center for an Is-
raeli program that gives
parents the opportunity to
be their children's first
teachers. The program, HIP-
PY (The Home Instruction
Program for Pre-School
Youngsters), trains workers
at the Arkansas Children's
Hospital. Outside of Israel,
it is the largest program of
its kind in the world. D

