President Bush and German
Chancellor Merkel Discuss Middle East Crisis
(July 13, 2006)
Town Hall
Stralsund, Germany
12:34 P.M. (Local)
CHANCELLOR MERKEL: (As translated.) .....We also addressed
the very
disturbing situation in the Middle East, and it fills
us with concern and we
have also stated clearly that everything needs to be
done in order to come
back to a peaceful resolution. We need to remind all
of us again how this
escalation started, with the kidnaping of a soldier,
through rockets -- for
the firing of missiles against Israeli territory. And
we can only urge all
parties, appeal to all parties to stop, to cease violence
and to also
release the kidnaped soldier, and to stop this firing
of missiles at Israeli
territory.
We would like to appeal to the powers in the region
to see to it that
further escalation is warded off, and that, first and
foremost, the root
causes of this conflict are removed. And only in this
way will a negotiating
process become possible again.
We have every interest in seeing the Lebanese government
be strengthened and
this government being able to pursue its policies in
a sensible and secure
environment.
...
PRESIDENT
BUSH: ...We talked about
the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli
issues with Hezbollah, and our common desire to work
together to help bring
peace to that troubled region.
My attitude is this: There are a group of terrorists
who want to stop the
advance of peace. And those of -- who are peace-loving
must work together to
help the agents of peace -- Israel, President Abbas,
and others -- to
achieve their objective.
You got to understand when peace advances, it's in
the terrorists' interests
in some cases to stop it. And that's what's
happening.
We were headed toward the road map, things looked positive,
and terrorists
stepped up and kidnaped a soldier, fired rockets into
Israel. Now we've got
two more kidnapings up north. Hezbollah doesn't want
there to be peace. The
militant arm of Hamas doesn't want there to be peace.
And those of us who do
want peace will continue to work together to encourage
peace.
...
Q A question addressed to you both.
You talked about the Middle East, and
what is your assessment of the military action of Israel
in Lebanon? The
French Foreign Minister already said it is disproportionate.
Does that give
you cause for Europe or the United States to intervene?
...
CHANCELLOR MERKEL: ...Well, as to
the violence in the Middle East,
particularly as regards Lebanon, I think that one needs
to be very careful
to make a clear distinction between the root causes
and the consequences of
something. So we started here from a case of kidnaping
of a soldier, and one
of the other root causes also is the activity of Hezbollah.
And it's most
important for the Israeli government to be strengthened,
but it is also
clearly shown that these incursions, such as the kidnaping
of soldiers, is
not acceptable.
And the parties to that conflict obviously have to
use proportionate means,
but I am not at all for sort of blurring the lines
between the root causes
and the consequences of an action. There has to be
a good reaction now, not
from the Israeli government, but from those who started
these attacks in the
first place.
PRESIDENT BUSH: -- to help calm the
situation, we've got diplomats in the
region. Secretary of State Rice, who is here, is on
the phone talking to
herf counterparts. I'll be making calls.
I gave you my initial impression earlier, and that
is that it's a sad
situation where -- when there is a very good chance
for there to be a
two-state solution enacted -- that is two states living
side-by-side in
peace -- it's really sad where people are willing to
take innocent life in
order to stop that progress. As a matter of fact, it's
pathetic.
And having said that, Israel has a right to defend
herself. Every nation
must defend herself against terrorist attacks and the
killing of innocent
life. It's a necessary part of the 21st century.
Secondly, we -- whatever Israel does, though, should
not weaken the Siniora
government in Lebanon. We're concerned about the fragile
democracy in
Lebanon. We've been working very hard through the United
Nations and with
partners to strengthen the democracy in Lebanon. The
Lebanese people have
democratic aspirations, which is being undermined by
the actions and
activities of Hezbollah.
Thirdly, Syria needs to be held to account. Syria is
housing the militant
wing of Hamas. Hezbollah has got an active presence
in Syria. The truth of
the matter is, if we really want there to be -- the
situation to settle
down, the soldiers need to be returned, and President
Assad needs to show
some leadership toward peace.
To answer your question about the involvement, we will
be involved
diplomatically, and are involved diplomatically.
Steve.....
Q Does the Beirut -- the attack on
the Beirut airport, does that concern
you, and are you concerned about triggering a wider
Middle East war?
PRESIDENT BUSH: As I mentioned, my
biggest concern is whether or not actions
taken will weaken the Siniora government. Democracy
in Lebanon is an
important part of laying a foundation for peace in
that region. We have
worked really hard to get Syria out of Lebanon -- U.N.
Resolution 1559, and
it's follow-up Resolution 1680 were manifestations
of the work of the
international community to get Syria out of Lebanon.
We've always felt that
a democracy in Lebanon is important for the Lebanese
people, and it's
important for the region.
So the concern is that any activities by Israel to
protect herself will
weaken that government. And we have made that -- or
topple that
government -- and we've made it clear in our discussions.
Having said all that, people need to protect themselves.
There are
terrorists who will blow up innocent people in order
to achieve tactical
objectives. In this case, the objective is to stop
the advance of peace --
which is a remarkable statement, isn't it? Willing
to kill to stop peace.
We have a good chance to get a two-state solution,
two democracies living
side-by-side in peace. It is a clear and achievable
vision. There is a way
forward called the road map to achieve that vision.
What will prevent that
vision from being achieved is -- are terrorist activities,
and that's what
you're seeing taking place.
Thank you all.
CHANCELLOR MERKEL: Thank you.
END 1:03 P.M. (Local)
Sources: The White House |