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Mr. Rubin: Greetings. Welcome to the State Department briefing. Today being Friday, the last day of the week; that is, the work week. I have for you a statement on the relocation of the Houston Passport Agency, as well as a statement on the Canada-US Partnership Forum, which held its first meeting, and I'll be happy to provide those statements to you after the briefing. With those statements out of the way, why don't you ask me your questions? Question: Jamie, it's been a couple of days since we sought a reading on the Bolling negotiations. A little confusion if they were to end today. It would also be interesting to know if the Secretary did get to talk to the folks a little bit before taking off. Bring us up to speed, would you please? Mr. Rubin: Yes. She did not talk to them before she took off. She left last night. But let me say the following. The Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have engaged in intensive, serious and substantive discussions throughout the week. These discussions have focused primarily on trying to work out a skeleton for a framework agreement on permanent status. During the course of these discussions, the two sides exchanged papers on this subject of how to create a skeleton for a framework agreement. Clearly, there are tough issues and gaps that remain, but obviously we want to continue working with the parties to overcome those gaps. The two sides continued to discuss the issue of the third phase of further redeployment. My understanding is that the Israelis and the Palestinians will conclude their discussions at Bolling this weekend and then return home for consultations. They have agreed to continue negotiations in the region some time at the end of the month. During this period, Special Middle East Coordinator Dennis Ross and Deputy Special Middle East Coordinator Aaron Miller will remain in contact with the parties. Question: From here. All right. A couple of quick things. Does the skeleton--there's a nice new word to throw into the mix. It's hard to ask a question about a skeleton. Why can't I speak English--let me try. This little step you've taken--or maybe major step--does it cover all the issues on an overall settlement in one way or another--the key issues? Are they all covered by this-- Mr. Rubin: Well, again, the framework agreement is designed to set the framework so that you can have an outline for agreements to complete all the areas that are outstanding. And you know what they are. I will list them for you again. Borders, the statehood, water, refugees, Jerusalem. A skeleton, as you know, has the core--creates the core of the human body. Without your skeleton, you don't have an arm, or a leg, or a head, or a thigh. So the skeleton is within all the elements of the human body. So therefore I think it would be a good assumption, from your standpoint, that the skeleton contains within it all the core elements needed for a framework agreement to achieve a permanent status agreement by September the 13th. Question: Thank you, Doctor. (Laughter). And did the attending physicians, Ross and Miller, contribute in any--of course they contribute even by their very presence, but did they contribute any ideas or--do you remember the notion that they would bridge? Did they have a major input in the construction of this? Mr. Rubin: No, the parties exchanged papers with the objective of creating a skeleton for the framework agreement. That is--those were their papers. As I have indicated before, we do not think the time is right for the United States to propose ideas to close gaps or resolve problems. We do think--and this was agreed with Prime Minister Rabin--Prime Minister Barak, that we would play a more intensive role in the discussions and have greater involvement in the discussions. And that will happen, and so we will be in touch with the parties and, obviously, we want to discuss all of this with Chairman Arafat when he gets here next week. Question: All right. One quick last thing. My pad doesn't show you saying anything about whether this is a step forward. Maybe you did, and I missed it. Mr. Rubin: I don't want to overstate the significance of exchanging papers that can lead to a skeleton of a framework agreement for a permanent status peace accord. What I want to tell you is what has happened, and those papers have been exchanged. I think if a skeleton were created, that is, the essential elements in all the areas needed for a framework agreement or the core of the issues needed for a framework agreement, that would be a step forward. But at this time, what they're doing is exchanging papers with the aim of achieving that skeleton. Question: So that, in other words, Jamie, what we've seen then is the Israelis have written down their positions on a piece of paper, the Palestinians have written down theirs, and they've just swapped them? Is that what's happened? Mr. Rubin: I think that would not be the way I would describe it. Yes, the Israelis have written down their views of what a skeleton needs to contain, and the Palestinians have written down what their views of what a skeleton needs to contain. But, again, we're using the word "skeleton" because we're describing core elements, not all the positions that each side might have on all the elements of an issue. Question: Okay. But do they have anything--do they include what the other side has said, or is it merely a statement of each-- Mr. Rubin: I don't want to describe what each party's paper says. What I can tell is they've exchanged papers, so there is an Israeli paper and there's a Palestinian paper. And the papers, if they can become an agreed paper, have the aim of being the skeleton of the framework agreement. Question: Why is it significant that they would exchange papers? They've been at this for so many months, and clearly both sides know what the other wants. Why is it significant that they would put it down on a piece of paper? Mr. Rubin: Well, as I recall, last week I was having an extensive discussion on the significance of pieces of paper so, really, it depends on what's on the piece of paper, not the fact of a piece of paper. So what's significant is not that they've exchanged papers, but that they exchanged papers with the aim of achieving a skeleton--a skeletal agreement--that would constitute the way forward to develop a framework agreement which would fill out the core elements, and then set a path to achieve a full agreement by September. Question: So we're at a pre-skeleton stage, sort of? Question: Amoebae. Question: And people accuse diplomats of being ambiguous. (Laughter). Question: Just bare-bones. Mr. Rubin: Oh, that was good. Question: Would you venture--although the comparison might be considered odious considering the current state of the Syrian track--would you compare this to that very famous, or at least at the time it looked important, the piece of paper that was put together at Wye--in Shepherdstown? Mr. Rubin: Well, I think the Shepherdstown paper that you probably had a chance to take a gander at in the Israeli press-- Question: No, they got it first. Mr. Rubin: No, that you had a chance to gander at in the Israeli press. Question: Yes. Mr. Rubin: And you can't imagine where they might have gotten it in the Israeli press. Question: Can't imagine. Mr. Rubin: You could see that that was actually a draft treaty. Question: So it was more pronounced, more advanced? Mr. Rubin: That was a treaty. Question: Congratulations, since I haven't seen you. Mr. Rubin: Thank you very much. I'm still accepting congratulations. Question: Continuously, till he turns 16, and then you take donations for the car. Mr. Rubin: That's true. [end of excerpt] Full transcript of Daily Press Briefing on 4/14/00
Peace Process | Near Eastern Affairs | Department of State | Secretary of State |
