Briefing en Route Brussels

SECRETARY RICE: All right, can you hear me? All right, I'm not sure that I -- can you hear me now? Janine, why don't you move up. Can you move up that way? All right.

STAFF: Okay.

SECRETARY RICE: You sure?

STAFF: (Inaudible.)

SECRETARY RICE: Okay, well, I'll try to -- I’ll try to talk loud.

We're going to start in Egypt, where obviously we continue to work toward coordination with the important Arab states about a number of issues in the Middle East, including the Annapolis process, and we also will have some discussions, I hope, on Lebanon and what is going on there. I also have a little time to talk about bilateral relations in Egypt, but obviously the focus here, given all that's going on currently in the region, is the Middle East peace process and where we -- and how we're doing. I’m then going on to Israel and to the Palestinian territories. I'll have the usual set of meetings there to review where we are on the three pillars of the Annapolis process; that is, what is going on in terms of roadmap obligations, progress on the ground, and then the negotiations themselves.

Obviously, the situation in Gaza is one that is concerning. But I will make the point to everyone that we need to continue to work, first of all, to make certain that everyone understands that Hamas is doing what might be expected, which is using attacks, rocket attacks, on Israel to try to arrest a peace process in which they have nothing to gain because, of course, they are not committed to a two-state solution, they are not committed to a Palestinian state which would give the Palestinian people the dignity and potentially the prosperity that they deserve, and we need to keep the focus on that.

That said, I’ve also talked this weekend to a number of Israeli leaders, Defense Minister Barak, Foreign Minister Livni. As you know, I met with Prime Minister Olmert in Tokyo this last week. I spoke yesterday with President Abbas. I’ve talked to the Egyptians because we both need to -- we all need to work to find a way to lower the level of violence. We need to be concerned about the innocent people of the Gaza. I've worked very closely with the Egyptians and talked to the Israelis as well about the humanitarian situation, about trying to make certain the humanitarian convoys can get into Gaza carrying much-needed humanitarian goods and supplies.

I also, though, want to say to all parties that the solution to this situation in the Middle East remains faithful execution of the Annapolis commitments and -- is this working?

STAFF: (Inaudible.)

SECRETARY RICE: Faithful and good -- faithful -- this isn’t working? Is this working?

STAFF: (Inaudible.)

SECRETARY RICE: All right. It’s working? All right, okay. So --

QUESTION: I checked my tape. Nothing’s been recorded.

SECRETARY RICE: Okay, all right. Well, faithful execution of the Annapolis obligations. And most importantly to make sure that these negotiations result in the establishment of a Palestinian state that can live side by side in peace and security with Israel. There's a lot of work to do on that. But I do know that that is ultimately what we have to keep focused on, and I hope that we can get the parties refocused on that issue.

QUESTION: Will you specifically call on the Palestinians to return to talks and will -- looking forward, will you ask the Israelis not to go ahead with full-scale invasion of Gaza, as Barak has hinted recently that he may do?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, first of all, I do think that negotiations ought to resume as soon as possible. I understand that the situation has been complicated. But the longer the negotiations are not ongoing or the longer that they are suspended, if that’s what one wants to call it, the more of a victory for those who don’t want to see a two-state solution. And I’m quite confident that Palestinians, led by Mahmoud Abbas, and the Israelis still have an overwhelming interest in that two-state solution. So yes, I will be talking about how we can get the negotiations back on track as soon as possible.

As to Israeli operations, I understand Israel’s need to defend itself and the rocket attacks need to stop. That said, I do think that the issue of the loss of innocent life is one that needs to be very much in the center of everyone’s minds. The humanitarian situation needs to be in the forefront of everyone’s minds and one always has to think that in carrying out military operations about the day after. And so those are the discussions that I have with the Israelis. But obviously, they also can’t just continue to live with rocket attacks on their population.

QUESTION: I don’t know if this -- the Egyptians have this idea of -- I guess it’s a -- it’s a cease-fire and giving the Palestinian Authority control of the border crossings, the Europeans coming back as monitors. Is that a reasonable proposal and does that run the risk of letting Hamas get some kind of propaganda victory from a cease-fire?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, the only thing that Hamas can lay claim to is fomenting instability and violence. That’s what Hamas can lay claim to. And if they consider that a victory, then that’s what they’ve done: They’ve promoted instability, they’ve promoted violence. They’re trying to arrest progress toward a Palestinian state. And everybody should be very clear that that’s what Hamas is trying to do.

Now, as to the Egyptian and it’s also been a proposal that Salaam Fayyad has made from time to time, I think you know that we believe that this is an idea that has merit where a lot of -- and by this one, I’m not speaking to the cease-fire issue, I’m speaking to the reestablishing monitors on the border and an ability to keep Rafah functioning. And we’ve said all along that we think there is some merit to that idea, although there are many, many details that would have to be worked out. And I will certainly be discussing how we make the Rafah situation sustainable and what that would mean for a role for the PA, for European monitors on that border.

QUESTION: What about the cease-fire? Is that --

SECRETARY RICE: I think everybody would like to see the violence stop. That, of course, means that there cannot be rocket attacks against Israeli population centers. And I think you -- we have to keep the focus on Hamas and what they’ve done with -- but everybody is looking to see if we can’t bring the levels of violence down, and hopefully the levels of violence have started to come down. That’s my understanding.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, children’s and women’s rights in Gaza -- there are, there have been criticisms against Israel and the situation is looking very much like Lebanon in 2006, and again U.S. is not calling for a cease fire. Are you concerned that this can lead to a radicalization of the Palestinian population, particularly in the West Bank?

SECRETARY RICE: First of all, let’s remember how the Lebanon war started. It started with a cross-border incursion of Hezbollah across the blue line. So I don’t think we want to start drawing parallels between what I consider to be two very different situations.

But does the United States want to see the violence stop? Yes. And are we concerned about innocent people who have been caught in the crossfire in Gaza? Absolutely. Do we also want to see rocket attacks against Israeli cities stop? Yes. So that’s our very clear position and we’ve also made it very clear that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is of concern to us.

QUESTION: A lot of people have talked in recent weeks about the division, the Gaza and the West Bank, and the fact that it's difficult, actually, to negotiate peace just with half of the Palestinians. Do you see any change on the horizon in that respect, and how is that going to work in your -- with the Annapolis process?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, first of all, we're not -- the Israelis are not negotiating with half of the Palestinians. They're negotiating with the legitimate president of all Palestinians. That Gaza is under the control of Hamas after Hamas overthrew legitimate Palestinian institutions is an extremely unfortunate circumstance that will have to be dealt with. But I -- we have to keep the focus on the fact that when there is a clear view for the Palestinian people of what their state is going to be and that there is going to be a viable Palestinian state, I think that is something the Palestinian people can -- can rally around in terms of unity. And then those who sit outside the consensus, like Hamas, are going to have a lot of questions to answer about why they don't want the Palestinians to have a viable Palestinian state. That's why it's so important that negotiations continue.

QUESTION: We seem to be in something of a box here, where Hamas has sort of shown that they can blow up the peace process whenever they want by lobbing a rocket at an Israeli city. So it looks like there are two options: We either encourage a cease-fire, which we don't really want to do; or we encourage the Israelis to go into Gaza and try to take out Hamas, but it sounds like we don't really want to do either. Is there a realistic third way that I'm not seeing?

SECRETARY RICE: Helene, I said we would like the violence to stop. The violence ought to stop. The Gaza -- the Hamas ought to stop firing rockets into Israel. At that point, you will be in a situation in which the security threat to Israeli cities didn’t -- wasn’t there.

QUESTION: But you’re not saying you support a cease-fire.

SECRETARY RICE: I'm saying, Helene, that we want the violence to stop. The -- call it what you will, we want the violence to stop. Now, I'm going to have discussions with the Egyptians and with the Palestinians and the Israelis about how you might get violence to stop. But first and foremost, Hamas needs to stop firing rockets into Israeli cities. Israelis have to be very concerned about the innocent people in Gaza who get caught in this crossfire, and Israelis need to be very concerned about the humanitarian situation. Those are the discussions that we're going to have.

Now, as to Hamas being able to, as you said, to cause difficulties for the peace process, only if they are allowed to. And somehow -- we talked about this during Annapolis, that there are going to be people who have no interest in the establishment of a Palestinian state, who are going to try to make it impossible to negotiate that Palestinian state.

And so I'm going to have discussions with the parties about how we try to keep this process going, given that obviously there are going to be spoilers and there are going to be rejectionists. But if the rejectionists are allowed to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, then that is not going to serve the interest of the Palestinian people. So I'm hopeful that we can get through this current situation and get back to negotiations.

I do think it will help if something can be done about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including about regularizing in some fashion the Rafah crossing. That will certainly help the overall situation.

QUESTION: Are you concerned that Abbas suspended the talks so quickly? And do you think that by the time you leave, those talks will have been resumed? There are some people who are already writing up the Annapolis process as a failure and say that you have ignored Gaza and Hamas’s role as a spoiler at your peril?

SECRETARY RICE: The Annapolis process is hardly underway. We are three months into trying to resolve a conflict that has been going on for 50 years. So I -- it's going to have its ups and downs. There are going to be good days and bad days, and even good weeks and bad weeks. But I'm going to talk to the parties about staying focused on what needs to be done here, and that is to determine the Palestinian state, to deal with all of the core issues that are going to have to be resolved in order to get to that Palestinian state, not to let the spoilers cause a situation in which we're not going to get to that Palestinian state.

But I also believe that there are responsibilities on both sides, including on the side of the Israelis and the Palestinians to deal with their roadmap obligations. One of the issues here is what's happening on the ground in terms of the movement and access, in terms of outposts. And so we're going to have a discussion of that too, because remember there are three planks to this: One was roadmap obligations; the second was to be able to do something about the Palestinian institution-building and economic activity; and the third was to have negotiations. They have to go together. And I'm not surprised that during this trip I'm going to be talking about the need for everybody to redouble their efforts to make progress along all three.

QUESTION: Do you still think there'll be a deal (inaudible) by the end of the year?

SECRETARY RICE: I continue to believe that they can get to a deal by the end of the year if everybody's got the will to do it.

QUESTION: Okay. I mean, do you (inaudible)?

QUESTION: I wanted a clarification on Sue's answer about you said you believe they can get to a deal. Would you be happy with a framework deal like Ehud Olmert has said? Are you talking about a permanent deal? And then if I could, I wanted to ask you something about Lebanon.

SECRETARY RICE: I'm talking only about what the parties said they would try to do at Annapolis, which was that they would try to, in accordance with the roadmap and subject to roadmap obligations, establish a Palestinian state. That's what we're talking about.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

SECRETARY RICE: Or get an agreement that would establish a Palestinian state. Let me put it that way because, obviously, implementation is going to take a while.

QUESTION: I'm just wondering why we're not going to Lebanon, given the focus of the Administration on putting pressure on Syria, trying to shore up some of the stalemate there. Do you believe or not that your intervention could help there?

SECRETARY RICE: We are in constant contact with the parties in Lebanon. But frankly, we’re going to the Palestinian territories and Israel, and then we’re going to Brussels for the -- for a NATO summit.

QUESTION: I just wanted to ask you about the visit of the Iranian President to Iraq for the first time since before the Iran-Iraq war in the '80s. He had a message to the United States and other foreign powers in Iran -- in Iraq. Do you think that the Prime Minister of Iraq will be able to the balance his support for the United States and the U.S. troops and its good neighborliness with Iran?

SECRETARY RICE: Iran is a neighbor; that's a geographic fact. And that geographic fact is not going to change. And we’ve said that we would hope that the Iraqis have good relations with all of their neighbors, but that requires their neighbors to behave in a responsible fashion. That's why we have a neighbors conference that has tried to help the Iraqis with border issues, with refugee issues, et cetera. And responsible behavior on the part of the Iranians would mean to stop the shipment of weapons and training for people who are killing or contributing to killing coalition forces, but also a lot of innocent Iraqis. And so I think the question is not for the Iraqis; the question is for the Iranians whether they’re going to be a responsible neighbor.

QUESTION: Just to follow on the roadmap obligations, the Israelis have said that Olmert has done things on settlements to really restrain the growth and they’ve made progress. The Palestinians say nothing's going to change, there’s still settlement growth. Do you have an assessment of what has happened since Annapolis?

SECRETARY RICE: That's the reason that I think they were both right to suggest that there be a third party, which is Will Fraser representing the United States. And he has made a couple of trips. He’s going with me this time. He's going about this in a very systematic way. He’s being very transparent with the parties and then he's going to report to me.

But let me say, thus far, I think there's room for improvement on both sides.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) briefly about Russia and the Russian election? Would you call it free and fair and do you expect (inaudible)?

SECRETARY RICE: I would say that Russia now has a new president and the United States will try to work for a constructive relationship. We’ve had a constructive relationship. We’re going to try to extend that. But you’ve heard me comment about the general trends in Russia. I don’t need to repeat it. And I said not too long ago that we all look forward to the day when there’s a contested presidential election in Russia with all the protections that that means.

2008/T7-1