Prime Minister Rabin, Chairman Arafat, Foreign Minister Peres, Mr.
Abbas, President Carter, President Bush, distinguished guests:

On behalf of the United States and Russia, co-sponsors of the Middle
East peace process, welcome to this great occasion of history and hope.
Today we bear witness to an extraordinary act in one of history's
defining dramas, a drama that began in a time of our ancestors when the
word went forth from a sliver of land between the River Jordan and the
Mediterranean Sea. That hallowed piece of earth, and land of life and
revelation, is the home to the memories and dreams of Jews, Muslims,
and Christians throughout the world.

As we all know, devotion to that land has also been the source of
conflict and bloodshed for too long. Throughout this century, bitterness
between the Palestinian and Jewish people has robbed the entire region
of its resources, its potential, and too many of its sons and daughters.
The land has been so drenched in warfare and hatred that conflicting
claims of history etched so deeply in the souls of the combatants there
that many believe the past would always have the upper hand.

Then, fourteen years ago, the past began to give way when at this place
and upon this desk three men of great vision signed their names to the
Camp David Accord. Today we honor the memories of Menachem Begin
and Anwar Sadat, and we salute the wise leadership of President Jimmy
Carter.

Then, as now, we heard from those who said that conflict would come
again soon. But the peace between Egypt and Israel has endured. Just so,
this bold new venture today, this brave gamble that the future can be
better than the past, must endure.

Two years ago in Madrid, another president took a major step on the
road to peace by bringing Israel and all her neighbors together to launch
direct negotiations. Today we also express our deep thanks for the
skillful leadership of President George Bush.

Ever since Harry Truman first recognized Israel, every American
president, Democrat and Republican, has worked for peace between
Israel and her neighbors. Now the efforts of all who have labored before
us bring us to this moment, a moment when we dare to pledge what for
so long seemed difficult even to imagine: that the security of the Israeli

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