Interview With Nihal Saad of Nile Television

QUESTION: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, we thank you very much again for joining us here on Egyptian Television.

SECRETARY RICE: A pleasure to be with you.

QUESTION: So it is shuttle diplomacy, is it?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, of a sort. I will go back to Israel a little bit later this evening. Tomorrow, I will be in Bethlehem, where I will speak with Palestinian citizens from civil society, and then back to Ramallah and then back again to Jerusalem. Because it is very important that we intensify our efforts to help the parties take advantage of what is a window of opportunity to move the peace process forward.

QUESTION: Right. Secretary Rice, I mean, you are an ardent student of history. You were an ardent student of history and when we talk about that process, about the scheduled meeting in the fall, it brings to mind to everybody here in the region the failed Camp David in 2000. And the question here is: How is it that, that process or that meeting that is going to be scheduled in the fall is going to be different in its outcome from Camp David, given, of course, the fact that maybe the internal situation with the Palestinians and the Israelis at the time was not as bad as it is right now?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, in the Middle East peace process we've had several attempts to resolve it. We've never been able to do it. And clearly, some things have been better and some things worse at any given point in time.

But I would make two points. The first is that the November meeting is going to be the beginning of a process. It's not the end. The parties are working very hard now on a document that will show that they believe that there is a way forward to the establishment of a Palestinian state. They will then meet with the international community and there will have to be a day after as well when they continue to work toward that state.

But the second point that I would make is that if there's one thing that history teaches us about other attempts, the importance of the regional states in being in at the beginning of the process, not at the end, not being asked at the end to support what the Israelis and the Palestinians have finally come to, but being in at the beginning. That's why we've spent a lot of time in regional diplomacy. That's why it's so important to have the Arab League Follow-on Committee a part of this process. It's why the meetings here in Egypt with Egypt, which of course has a longstanding historical constructive role in the peace process and has made itself historic and important -- taken important risks for peace.

QUESTION: Right. You said that this process is the beginning and not the end, which means that there are going to be other meetings perhaps and other procedures and measures or let's say other functions that is going to be taking place later on, which drives me to ask you this question about the U.S. -- the extent of the U.S. involvement. Because yesterday you were very strong on saying that the establishment of a Palestinian state is a top priority for President Bush on his time in office. Does this mean that the establishment of a Palestinian state is going to be within the time of President Bush; that is, by the 2009 we can say that? Maybe you can give me a scoop here.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I would like to be able to say that. I don't think we can predict. But what I can tell you is that the President has made this a top priority, that we're going to work as hard as we can until the day that we're out of office, until we've expended the last moment, to try to help establish a Palestinian state.

Now, it's hard work and everybody is going to have to exercise their responsibilities, not just the United States but also the regional actors, the parties themselves, the international community. But we do have a chance here. The parties are working very seriously. But I was in Israel and in Jerusalem and Ramallah -- what really comes through is that this is a serious moment for the parties when they are having the most extensive and far-reaching discussions about core issues that they've had in many years. And so there is an opportunity here. We believe that the establishment of a Palestinian state would be of great benefit to the region and to U.S. interests, and so we're going to work as hard as possible getting it done.

QUESTION: You said that the two parties are just working there very seriously. Now, this is a hypothetical question and I know that diplomats hate hypothetical questions, but I am tempted to ask the question. If those two parties fail on the bilateral track to come up with a document or an agreement, what would happen then? Are you going to leave them to talk indefinitely or are you, as Secretary of State, going to be endorsing or coming up with a document trying to bridge the gap?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, my role here is to help them get to a document. It's going to be best if it is a document between the parties. But I recognize that there may need to be a role for helping them to bridge differences, that there may be ways that we can help them see that there is a place they can all -- they can both come together in this document. And I've been doing some of that on this trip. I will be doing even more of it in the future. I expect that I'll be back out here very shortly to help again.

So we're going to help them succeed. I don't like to think about the parties failing. I would rather think about how we help them succeed.

QUESTION: Right. But again, I mean, yesterday you were sort of supportive of the Israeli view that there shouldn't be a timeframe. Now, this region has had a history of agreements between the two sides of the Israelis and the Palestinians, and none of them or one party is not adhering to the timeframe, which leads to frustration and leads to disappointment. But again, we cannot leave a process to go on indefinitely. Wouldn't you agree to that?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I agree that it shouldn't go on indefinitely. I know that there have been many open-ended processes that have never ended. I understand that. And I know that people want to avoid a circumstance in which there's a meeting, they launch off, and nothing happens. And so we need to look at ways that we can continue to stimulate momentum in the process. We need to look at ways that members of the international community, members of the regional group, can from time to time help to push the process forward.

And so when I say that I'm not certain that we want to have timeframe that says by this date we will have done the following, it doesn't mean that --

QUESTION: But it's the commitment of the two parties.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, but sometimes we've all said -- let's be realistic. We've also had a lot of timeframes and a lot of deadlines that passed, too. So just setting a deadline doesn't mean that you're going to get anything done. What you have to have is sustained commitment, sustained commitment to momentum, sustained commitment to moving the process forward, sustained commitment to engaging with the parties when they seem to have gotten stuck for one reason or another. That's what I think we're really looking for. People are looking to make sure that this doesn't just stall. And we have the same interest.

QUESTION: Just to wrap it up in one minute because they are waving to me. How close are you, Madame Secretary, of bridging the gaps between all parties in order to bring all the people you want to invite to that conference?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I understand that those who we will invite want the same thing that we want. They want a meeting that is serious. They want a meeting that is substantive. They want a meeting that is going to address core issues, all of the issues that have to be solved if we're going to have a Palestinian state. (Inaudible) we don't need a photo op. We have better things to do. And so we are going to make this a serious and substantive meeting.

Now, the best outcome would be if the parties have a document. They don't have to resolve all of the issues. They're going to do that in permanent status negotiations. But what they need to do is to signal in a document that they have established a basis for moving forward, that they believe that they have enough confidence in one another and enough confidence in the ability to move forward that they can actually make progress toward a Palestinian state.

I think we will be able to achieve that. We haven't issued --

QUESTION: In this meeting?

SECRETARY RICE: Well --

QUESTION: In your meetings this time?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, not -- I have several more meetings, I'm sure, before we are to the place that the parties have that document. But I don't think that we ought to spend our time predicting failure or expecting failure. You know, there is something called self-fulfilling prophesy. If you believe you can succeed, you can succeed.

QUESTION: And you are an optimist?

SECRETARY RICE: And I think we will succeed. Yes, I'm an optimist. History takes funny turns. And as I said earlier, there are many things that are harder about the process now than before, but there are many things that are changed. The President talked about a two-state solution quite a long time ago now, almost at the beginning of his term. You have in Israel now a broad coalition within politics that believes that there ought to be a two-state solution. You have a democratically elected president in the Palestinian territories, President Abbas, who clearly believes that you renounce violence, you negotiate your way to statehood, that there can be two states living side by side. There's a lot of goodwill. There's a lot of hard work to do, too. And I would be the last to say that that work is done. We are beginning a process, not ending it.

But I really do believe that if everybody exercises their responsibilities this time, we are going to find ourselves in a new world, a world in which there will be no doubt about the establishment of a Palestinian state, a state that the time really is now to try to achieve that, because the Palestinians have waited too long for the dignity that's going to come from their own state and the Israelis have waited too long for the security that is going to come from a democratic state that is fighting terror and delivering for its own people.

QUESTION: That's a hopeful note to end our interview. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, we thank you very much for joining us here on Egyptian Television again.

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. Thank you very much.

QUESTION: Thank you.

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