READOUT: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S CALL WITH PRESIDENT AL-SISI OF EGYPT

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE  
March 31, 2015
Readout of the President’s Call with President al-Sisi of Egypt

President Obama spoke with Egyptian President Abdelfattah al-Sisi today regarding the U.S.-Egyptian military assistance relationship and regional developments, including in Libya and Yemen.  President Obama informed President al-Sisi that he will lift executive holds that have been in place since October 2013 on the delivery of F-16 aircraft, Harpoon missiles, and M1A1 tank kits.  The President also advised President al-Sisi that he will continue to request an annual $1.3 billion in military assistance for Egypt.  Beginning in fiscal year 2018, the President noted that we will channel U.S. security assistance for Egypt to four categories – counterterrorism, border security, Sinai security, and maritime security – and for sustainment of weapons systems already in Egypt’s arsenal.

The President explained that these and other steps will help refine our military assistance relationship so that it is better positioned to address the shared challenges to U.S. and Egyptian interests in an unstable region, consistent with the longstanding strategic partnership between our two countries.  President Obama also reiterated U.S. concerns about Egypt’s continued imprisonment of non-violent activists and mass trials.  He encouraged increased respect for freedom of speech and assembly and emphasized that these issues remain a focus for the United States.  The two leaders agreed to stay in touch in the weeks and months ahead.

CIA HEAD SAYS TERRORISM "MORPHING" INTO THEATS LIKE CYBERATTACKS

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
CIA Chief: Terrorism Morphing Into Different Threats
By Jim Garamone
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2015 – Terrorism is morphing into different types of threats, including cyberattacks that can impact nations across the globe, the director of central intelligence said in New York last week.

John Brennan told the Council on Foreign Relations that terror attacks in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia show the terror threat is changing. The CIA working with foreign partners is key to defeating the terror threat, he added.
“These attacks underscore a disturbing trend that we have been monitoring for some time -- the emergence of a terrorist threat that is increasingly decentralized, difficult to track and even more difficult to thwart,” Brennan said.

Though the United States and its partners have had considerable success in attacking core al-Qaida, affiliates have risen, said Brennan, pointing to al-Qaida groups in Libya, Egypt, Somalia, Nigeria “and especially Yemen where al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has demonstrated a capability to plot attacks well beyond Yemen’s borders, including in our homeland.”

ISIL a ‘Serious Danger’ Beyond Region

But the heartland of terror, the director said, now operates in Syria and Iraq where the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is waging a campaign of unspeakable brutality against the local population and anyone who does not share its ideology.

Left unchecked, ISIL poses a serious danger not only to Syria and Iraq, but to the wider region and beyond, including the threat of attacks on the U.S. homeland and the homelands of its partners, Brennan said.

The intelligence chief echoed DoD leaders in saying the fight against ISIL will be a long one. “If there is one thing we have learned over the years, it is that success against terrorism requires patience and determination,” he said. “Clearly our country will be dealing with terrorism in one form or another for many years to come.”

Threats in the Cyber Realm

Modern communications technologies complicate the fight against ISIL and its ilk, Brennan said. “New technologies can help groups like ISIL coordinate operations, attract new recruits, disseminate propaganda and inspire sympathizers across the globe to act in their name,” he said. “The overall threat of terrorism is greatly amplified by today’s interconnected world where an incident in one corner of the globe can instantly spark a reaction thousands of miles away, and where a lone extremist can go online and learn how to carry out an attack without ever leaving home.”

The cyber domain brings tremendous benefits, but also brings tremendous dangers, he said.

“Threats in the cyber realm are an urgent national security priority, as America has no equivalent to the two wide oceans that have helped safeguard our country’s physical, maritime and aviation domains for centuries,” Brennan added.

Nations, terrorist organizations, criminals and hackers are trying to penetrate U.S. digital networks, he said.

“Government institutions are under constant assault, and private companies are spending enormous sums of money to defend against hacking attempts, denial of service attacks and other efforts to disrupt their networks,” Brennan said.
The North Korean attack on Sony last year highlighted the cyber threat, he said.
“CIA is working with our partners across the federal government to strengthen cyber defenses, to share expertise and to collaborate with the private sector to mitigate these threats,” Brennan said. “Together we have advanced our understanding of the threats in the cyber realm.”

SECRETARY KERRY'S PRESS AVAILABILITY IN SHARM EL-SHEIKH, EGYPT

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Press Availability in Sharm el-Sheikh
Press Availability
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt
March 14, 2015

SECRETARY KERRY: Good morning to all. I want to thank President al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Shoukry for their warm welcome here and for the tremendous work that the Egyptian Government has been doing with respect to the conference itself but equally importantly the larger issue of development and the reforms and initiatives that are necessary to really kick development off in Egypt at this point.

The United States, as I’ve said previously – I said last night – is committed to strengthening the partnership with Egypt. And we’ve been working hard at that over the last years. How Egypt develops in the coming years, how it succeeds, and how it recharges its economy will not only affect, obviously, the near 90 million people who are in Egypt, but it will also have a profound impact on the entire region. It is strategically important to this region and to all of us who are looking for stability and for a better standard of living and greater inclusivity and participation by citizens. It is important to make certain that Egypt can move along the road to development and to the full achievement of its democratic aspirations. And that’s something the United States will remain committed to.

So I came here today – came here over this weekend to this conference to reiterate the support of President Obama and the Obama Administration and the people of the United States for Egypt as it undertakes significant reforms and works toward the economic transformation that all the people of Egypt are hoping for.

Over the past few days, I have met with a range of American business leaders in order to discuss the specific concerns that they have raised with my economic team both in Washington as well as here in their visits. And I had a very candid and constructive conversation with President Sisi and Foreign Minister Shoukry about how to will improve the business climate, specific steps that, in some cases, they’ve already made the decision and need implementation and in other cases will still need further legislation.

But all of these things are key to attracting new investment. Everybody knows that money, capital, behaves in fairly predictable ways. And those who make decisions about investment look for certainty. They look for confidence. They look for the knowledge that, if they invest, what they’re investing in will be a transparent and accountable transaction.

The Egypt Economic Development Conference underscores, I think, in the breadth of the numbers of people who were here – the high-level participation says a lot about the deep well of support for Egypt, the shared hopes for Egypt, which are really reflected in that. And also, it underscores the challenges that Egypt faces as it works to meet the democratic aspirations of its people.

We also discussed the importance of respect for human rights and for Egypt’s security and stability, including a free press, a free speech and assembly, and due process under the law. And there is no question that Egypt is stronger when all of its citizens have a say and a stake in its future, and that includes a strong and active and independent civil society.

President Sisi and Foreign Minister Shoukry and I also continued our conversation about the important role that Egypt is playing in the coalition against ISIL and the challenges of extremism, violent religious extremism that is manifested in many ways in the region. We have all been deeply shocked and saddened by the recent terrorism attacks, including of those in Egypt and the grotesque murder of 21 Egyptian Copts in Libya.

The United States supports Egypt’s efforts to combat the threat of terrorism in the Sinai and throughout the country. And these atrocities that we have all witnessed around the world simply cannot be rationalized, they cannot be excused, they must be opposed, and they must be stopped.

Now I also met, as I think many of you know, with President Abbas and King Abdullah and President Sisi in a side meeting to the conference. And particularly at this week’s conference, which underscores the powerful connection between investments in business and investments in peace, we discussed efforts to develop a healthy, sustainable, and private sector-led Palestinian economy, one that could transform the fortunes of the Palestinian people and all of their neighbors in the region.

Before I take your questions, let me also just say a word quickly about the P5+1 talks with Iran. From the beginning, these talks have been tough and they’ve been intense, and they remain so. And we’ve made some progress, but there are still gaps, important gaps, and important choices that need to be made by Iran in order to be able to move forward.

Now I want to be very clear. Nothing in our deliberations is decided until everything is decided. And the purpose of these negotiations is not just to get any deal; it is to get the right deal. President Obama means it when he says, again and again, that Iran will not be permitted to get a nuclear weapon. As you all know, Iran says it doesn’t want a nuclear weapon, and that is a very welcome statement that the Supreme Leader has, in fact, incorporated into a fatwa. And we have great respect – great respect – for the religious importance of a fatwa. And what we are effectively trying to do is translate that into legal language, into everyday language within the framework of a negotiated agreement that everybody can understand, which requires everybody to have certain obligations and ultimately be able to guarantee that Iran’s program, its nuclear program, will be peaceful now and peaceful forever.

Now sanctions alone can’t achieve that. We need a verifiable set of commitments. And we need an agreed-upon plan that obviously provides the access and the opportunity to be able to know what is happening so that you can have confidence that the program is, indeed, peaceful. That’s what we’re negotiating about. And we need to cover every potential pathway – uranium, plutonium, covert – that there might exist towards a weapon, and only an agreement can do that.

So what’s the alternative? In previous years, when U.S. policy was not to talk to Iran and insist at the same time that they could have no nuclear program whatsoever, the number of centrifuges skyrocketed. Every time negotiations have broken down in the past, Iran’s nuclear program has advanced. Only the joint plan, which Iran agreed to and fully implemented, has actually succeeded in freezing Iran’s program for the first time in nearly 10 years, and even rolled it back in some cases. And they agreed to that, because they have an interest in proving that their plan is peaceful.

The comprehensive plan will lock in, with greater specificity and breadth, if we can arrive at it, the ways in which Iran will live up to its international obligations under the NPT for the long term. So we continue to be focused on reaching the right deal, a deal that would protect the world, including the United States and our closest allies and partners, from the threat that a nuclear-armed Iran could pose. We still don’t know whether or not we will get there, and that’s why I will travel to Lausanne in Switzerland tomorrow in order to meet with Foreign Minister Zarif and once again engage in talks to see if we can find a way to get that right deal.

As I have said previously, it may be that Iran simply can’t say yes to the type of deal that the international community is looking for. But we owe it to the future of everybody in the world to try to find out. If we cannot get to a diplomatic agreement, make no mistake, we obviously do have other options. But those options will mean no transparency, they will mean no verifiable set of commitments, and they don’t close off Iran’s potential pathways to a nuclear weapon for nearly as long as a negotiated agreement can, if it’s the right agreement. And so we will return to these talks, recognizing that time is of the essence, the clock is ticking, and important decisions need to be made.

And with that, I would be very happy to answer a few questions.

MS. HARF: Great. Our first question is from Margaret Brennan of CBS. And I think we have mikes coming to you.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, thank you. With the deadline for a deal so close, do you believe that a deal is within reach? And given the recent comments by the Supreme Leader as well as some of U.S. allies, do you think that the GOP letter has undermined the diplomacy and made reaching of an agreement that much harder?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, the deadline is approaching. As you all know, we have set the end of the month as the deadline. And so we will be going into this understanding that time is critical. I can’t tell you whether or not we can get a deal or whether we’re close. And one reason I can’t tell you is because we have heard some comments from the Supreme Leader regarding the letter that was sent by the 47 senators. And until I engage in those conversations, I cannot gauge on a personal level that reaction – though I can tell you from common sense that when the United States Senate sends a letter such as the 47 senators chose to send the other day it is a direct interference in the negotiations of the executive department. It is completely without precedent, and it is almost inevitable that it will raise questions in the minds of the folks with whom we are negotiating as to whether or not they are negotiating with the executive department and the President, which is what the Constitution says, or whether there are 535 members of Congress.

Let me make clear to Iran, to our P5+1 counterparts who are deeply involved in this negotiation, that, from our point of view, this letter – the letter was, in fact, incorrect in its statements about what power they do have. It was incorrect in its assessments of what type of agreement this is. And as far as we are concerned, the Congress has no ability to change an executive agreement per se. So we will approach these negotiations in the same way that we have approached them to date, not affected externally but looking at as this Administration, according to President Obama’s instructions, to get the right deal that will accomplish what we need to for the security interest of the United States, our friends and allies in the region, and for the long-term security of everybody who cares about nonproliferation.

MS. HARF: Great. Our --

SECRETARY KERRY: And with respect --

MS. HARF: Go ahead. Sorry. Go ahead, sir.

SECRETARY KERRY: No, no. That’s it. Thank you.

MS. HARF: Okay. Our next question is from Ronda Abulazin of Al Arabiya. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, welcome. You came here with – okay, can you hear me now? You came to Egypt with a very strong message in support of its – reform its economy, its security. However the United States is still holding part – a big part of its military aid to Egypt, which is very crucial for its fight – Egypt’s fight against terrorism, whether in Sinai or to protect its border. So when will the United States release the military aid? And does it include F16?

My other part of the question, the war against ISIL in Iraq. The scene there looks very – really bizarre. Did the Iraqi prime minister allow the contribution of Iranian Qods brigade and Hizballah without the U.S. knowledge, especially that the U.S. is providing military counsel on the ground and military operation room? Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much. With respect to the aid and assistance, I really expect a decision very soon. We look at this conference as a very important step, mostly because this conference is focused on private sector contributions and private sector engagement in the future of Egypt. We applaud those countries who have put very significant amounts of money on the table in order to help Egypt over the hump, if you will, over these hurdles of the immediate budget crisis. And it’s a very important part of the overall effort to sustain and kick into higher gear Egypt’s economy.

But in the long run, unless Egypt transforms its economy with more private sector investment, creating long-term jobs and opening up new capabilities, you will just keep repeating the cycle of emergency assistance and aid. So we think the most important thing that we can do is help provide access to those companies and help to leverage the relationships that can create jobs for the people of Egypt.

Now we’re already doing that. Last year, before this conference, 160 American businesspeople, representing some 70 companies from the United States, came to Cairo. I think President Sisi spent about two hours with them, and they had long conversations about what Egypt’s needs are. Out of that have come a number of deals, which will create jobs in Egypt. I know General Electric, for instance, signed deals with respect to the Suez and other provision of power – other deals were made.

But in addition to that, we are providing economic assistance in the hundreds of millions of dollars that will be directed to small business enterprises and to new startups, because we want to see a sustainable economy grow in Egypt. Right now, the United States of America is providing over 20 percent of all foreign direct investment in Egypt. It’s a total of about $2.2 billion. And it is the number-two largest foreign direct investor in Egypt. So I hope that will share with the people of Egypt and the government a sense of our commitment to this. And we have top executives who are here, part of this conference, in order to try to grow the private sector entrepreneurial component of job creation in Egypt.

With respect to Iraq and the question of --

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

SECRETARY KERRY: I said the decision – I think we’ll come – that’s what I said, very soon, very soon.

With respect to Iraq, we absolutely have known of Iran’s engagement in the northeastern parts of Iraq and, indeed, we’ve had conversations with Prime Minister Abadi about it. He doesn’t hide it, and we’re not blind to it. We know that Iran has been engaged. We know that General Soleimani has been on the ground. We know that they have an interest. We understand that. And we fully understand some of their engagement with some of the militia. At the same time, they are deeply opposed to Daesh. And while we are not coordinating with Iran – we do not have conversations with Iran about this – we work through the Iraqi Government. We do so with the knowledge that they are also opposed to Daesh and are working for Daesh’s defeat.

Now going forward, I would also note that part of this operation in Tikrit also involves significant participation by Sunni tribes and Sunni participants from the region. And the governor in Salah al-Din province was well aware of what is happening and of this whole-of-government initiative, whole-of-coalition effort, to continue to press the fight against Daesh. And even while the fighting in Tikrit is taking place, there are several other fights taking place nearby which involve significant Sunni participation, U.S. support, and others.

So what we made clear some months ago when we first announced the coalition, lots of countries will make lots of different kinds of contributions, and every country can make some kind of contribution, and all of us are committed to the defeat of Daesh. And the sooner that can happen, the better.

Now the real measure of the Tikrit operation will not be just in the clearing; it will be in how people are treated afterwards. It will be in whether or not there is a inclusivity or whether there is, in fact, a breakdown into a kind of sectarian division. So we’ll watch that carefully. We will work with the Government of Iraq very carefully to do our best to minimize or avoid that. But we are not surprised at all by the participation such as it has been with respect to the Tikrit operation itself.

MS. HARF: Great. Our final question is from Lesley Wroughton, Reuters. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. Mr. Secretary, do you want to see the Israeli-Palestinian process restarted after next week’s election? With the center left holding a solid lead in the election, does that brighten for you the prospects when it comes to moving forward on the Middle East peace process? When – do you expect that after the politics of the election has passed a new spirit can be brought to this process?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, let me just say that the position of the United States, with respect to the long expressed hopes of Republicans and Democrats alike, of many presidents over the last 50 years or more, has always been for peace. And President Obama remains committed to a two-state solution and remains hopeful that when there – whatever choice the people of Israel make, that there will be an ability to be able to move forward on those efforts.

I’m not going to say anything more whatsoever about any aspect of that because there is an election in, what, three days, three and a half, four days, and I don’t want any comment I make misinterpreted in any way by anybody. And therefore, I will simply reiterate the longstanding commitment of the United States to peace and our hopes that the choice that the people of Israel make will not only meet their needs domestically and their hopes in their country, but obviously meet the hopes for peace, which I think everybody shares.

MS. HARF: Thank you very much.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, all. Thank you very much, everybody. Appreciate it. Thank you.

QUESTION: One question on --

SECRETARY KERRY: Did you have one? One more.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MS. HARF: Okay. Wait, wait. Okay. We can do one more, if Secretary has some time. We’ll do Dalia Ashraf of Al Nahar TV.

SECRETARY KERRY: Dalia? Who’s Dalia?

MS. HARF: Sorry. Dalia.

SECRETARY KERRY: This is Dalia here?

QUESTION: Yes, of course. Egyptians felt yesterday in your speech to the American Chamber of Commerce that you that expressed more U.S. support for Egypt. Can you explain this change?

SECRETARY KERRY: That I did what?

QUESTION: More support, more American support for Egypt. Can you explain this? In your speech yesterday --

SECRETARY KERRY: That I expressed --

QUESTION: Yeah.

SECRETARY KERRY: -- more support for Egypt?

QUESTION: Yeah.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, we are supportive. I was very clear about our hopes for Egypt to move down the road of the democratic process, to continue to make progress in its internal relationship with the people of Egypt. We’ve always expressed that. But we’ve also expressed the connection of jobs and of economic opportunity to help provide stability and help provide the basis for all the other aspects of civil society to be able to come together. The stronger the economy, the more opportunity there is, the more that young people coming out of university can find a future that they want here, the stronger Egypt will be. And what I expressed yesterday was our commitment to the continued steps to move towards a full democratic process, a respect for rights, a respect for speech, as I mentioned earlier, the full participation of people in the society, at the same time as they are making very serious commitments to the social fabric and the economic opportunities that actually strengthen that social fabric.

So that’s really what I was talking about. It’s the link to those businesses. It’s why what I just said about America being the number-two nation in foreign direct investment in Egypt is so important, because that’s how you build the capacity of the society to embrace all of these other hopes and aspirations that the people have.

MS. HARF: Okay. That really is it, guys. Thank you very much for coming.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS IN EGYPT AT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at the Opening Plenary of the Egypt Economic Development Conference
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt
March 13, 2015

Mr. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, it’s a privilege to be here with you today, and your majesties, your highnesses, your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen.


Mr. President, in so many ways, it is clear that your initiatives are already affirming the pivotal role Egypt has played in this region for so long.  We’ve heard a number of the speakers refer to it.  And I want to thank you for your partnership and for your obvious readiness to tackle some very tough issues.  There are an extraordinary number of very thoughtful, very experienced leaders, particularly of the corporate sector but also of government here, and they come from all over the world.  I’m particularly pleased that some of the biggest companies in America are also here and that all of you together represent billions of dollars of investment.

So I come here today, Mr. President, with a very simple message:  The American people are committed to the security and political and economic wellbeing of the Egyptian people, and we will work with you – (applause) – we will work with you to absolutely secure the ambitious and important goals, the vision that you have laid out here today.

There is absolutely no question that the emergence of a strong, prosperous, democratic Egypt is critical for the development of a strong and prosperous region.  And Egypt, as a number of speakers have also alluded to, has historically been the region’s most important incubator of ideas.  And this does go back to the earliest days of civilization.  Egypt constitutes one-quarter of the Arab world’s population.  But we also heard one of our distinguished friends from the Emirates, I think, say that Egypt also is a critical part of the Arab world and the Arab world can’t do without Egypt; it’s symbiotic.  How Egypt fares in the coming years and how it restructures its economy will affect not only the country’s nearly 90 million citizens, but it will also affect millions of others throughout the region who aspire to a better future.  That is why we are gathered here:  We all – all of us – have a stake in Egypt’s success, and all of the Middle East needs to see that what Egyptians struggled to achieve in 2011 was the real birth of opportunity and not an illusion.

That is why the United States is committed to supporting Egypt’s economic reforms, and I think that we can already see from what is happening that those are taking hold.  I’m pleased to tell you also that before this conference was conceived, we in the United States shared the sense of the need for this economic transformation.  And so last year, under the auspices of the United States Chamber of Commerce, 160 CEOs, leading business people representing some 70 countries – 70 companies came here to spend time with President al-Sisi and his administration in order to help define the future.  We are already making progress laying down specific projects that will support economic growth, entrepreneurship, and job creation, especially for the agribusiness and tourism sectors.  We’ve committed some 300 million for the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund and another 250 million for OPIC loans to guarantee to support the development of small and medium-sized businesses.  And just our Qualifying Industrial Zone program has already spurred more than 800 million in Egyptian exports to the United States last year and supported 280,000 Egyptian jobs.  That’s in addition to a billion dollars of loan guarantee, 500 million dollars of recent investment by The Coca-Cola Company, General Electric, others who are deeply committed to this enterprise.

We all know also that there are challenges.  And yet every single one of us are here because through those challenges we see and understand the extraordinary potential.  There is a possibility of innovation, a possibility of attracting investment, a possibility of working together on an agenda of opportunity that literally creates the sustainable economy that President al-Sisi talks about, the open, inclusive, and transparent growth that is critical to attract capital.

So there are about four things that are critical to that, very quickly.  First, Egypt needs to grow sustainably.  And President al-Sisi understands that and he’s already taken important steps on macroeconomic reform.  The United States is very eager to build on this progress by supporting the government’s engagement with international financial institutions, including the IMF; efforts to improve cash management, lower debt, deficits, increase tax revenue, and reduce costly subsidies in a way that protects the poorest citizens.  And as we all know, sustaining and strengthening these reforms will require courage and political will, and it is evident that President al-Sisi has already demonstrated that and is prepared to make those choices.

Secondly, Egypt needs to grow openly and accountably.  President al-Sisi, again, deserves enormous credit for working to improve the basic business climate in Egypt.  He just signed a new investment law, and that will create a one-stop shop for business which eliminates the bureaucracy, reduces the paperwork, streamlines the decision making, and allows capital to take hold and begin to work quickly.  This is a very important step, and I know that it will be followed by the additional work to provide sanctity of contracts, mechanisms for dispute resolution, and protections for intellectual property rights.

Third, Egypt obviously needs to grow inclusively, and President al-Sisi is committed to that.  A central demand of the revolution of 2011 was a more equal distribution of wealth.  And that requires a commitment to empowering young people to fulfill their dreams, to meet their aspirations, and women also in order to promote a free and active and independent civil society.

And finally, Egypt needs to grow transparently.  We all know that foreign investors require assurance of accountability, certainty, assurance that reforms are both comprehensive and long-term.  And immediately after taking office, President Sisi announced anti-corruption initiatives, and we strongly support his government in that effort.  No one is injured more than companies – and by the way, no one country is immune to – any country immune to any of these challenges.  But no one is more injured because of them than the very companies that we’re trying to attract in order to develop in the ways that we want to.

Ultimately, economic growth and political development go hand in hand, and that is how you build the strong society.  Economic growth, widely shared, can help to ease any disagreements that characterize the openness of governance.  And at the same time, the protection of individual rights and impartial administration of justice helps create the conditions for lasting investment and growth that benefits all Egyptians.

So, yes, there are challenges, and many of them have been alluded to by other speakers here.  But the road ahead is absolutely clear and so is the United States determination to support Egypt’s progress in any way that we can.  Let me make one statement about that.  (Applause.)  And that includes, in the effort to stand up and fight against extremists and terrorists, the one thing we know is here at this conference we stand in direct contradiction to the nihilism that they present.  They want to destroy and go back in time.  We want to build and go to the future, and that’s what this conference is about.  (Applause.)  And no political philosophy, no ideology, no politics, and certainly no religion can excuse the grotesque, unbelievable descent into chaos that those extremists are willing to provoke.  Nothing excuses the killing of innocent women, children, villagers, people anywhere – nothing.  (Applause.)

So that’s what makes this – frankly, this conference so important, because this is one of the most important tools in our toolbox to be able to embrace that future.  Out of this conference must come a renewed commitment to fully empower Egypt’s entrepreneurs and innovators as well as provide for greater economic opportunity – not just for some Egyptians, but for all Egyptians.  And I promise you, directly from President Obama and from this Administration, the full commitment of the United States in this journey towards security, shared prosperity, and peace that the Egyptian people both desire and deserve.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

SECRETARY KERRY, U.K. FOREIGN SECRETARY HAMMOND MAKE REMARKS BEFORE MEETING

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks With U.K. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond Before Their Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Carlton Gardens
London, United Kingdom
February 21, 2015

FOREIGN SECRETARY HAMMOND: Well, it’s a great pleasure to welcome John Kerry here this morning. We have got a series of important challenges to the rules-based international system which is so important both for the United States and the United Kingdom, and our cooperation, our alliance, is at the heart of the response to those challenges.

We’re going to take the opportunity this morning to talk about the challenge we face in Ukraine from Russia’s continued aggression, the unacceptable way in which the cease-fire agreement that was signed just 10 days ago has been so systematically breached. We’re going to talk about how we maintain European Union unity and U.S.-European alignment in response to those breaches of that agreement.

We’ll also be talking about the challenges that we face from Islamist extremism, particularly now the challenges that we’re seeing in Libya, where the extremists are getting a foothold and the UN special representative initiative is making some progress, but we urgently need to see a government of national unity emerging in Libya so that the international community can put its weight behind that government in order to squeeze the terrorists out of the ungoverned space that’s currently available to them in Libya.

We’ve got a lot of challenges ahead of us, but we’re going to have, I know, very constructive discussions today, and we will make sure that our alliance remains at the heart of the international community’s response to those challenges. John.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Philip, thank you very much. First of all, thank you for your welcome and thanks for being available to have this important discussion. I think the special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States is really never more prominent than it is right now at this period where we are cooperating on so many different challenges all at the same time. We’re particularly appreciative for Britain’s home secretary’s presence at the White House summit on violent extremism just over the last few days.

And I have to say that I am personally encouraged by the unanimity of the response at that summit to steps that need to be taken over the course of the next months and years in order to counter violent extremism. But for the immediate moment, we face a series of very real, immediate challenges which we are determined to respond to. And we’re going to talk about each of them here today, and I will go on from here to discussions with respect to Iran. The P5+1 remains united on the subject of Iran. There is absolutely no divergence whatsoever in what we believe is necessary for Iran to prove that its nuclear program is going to be peaceful into the future.

But in the immediacy, Russia has engaged in an absolutely brazen and cynical process over these last days. There is no secret to any of us, not in this age of all kinds of visibility and technical means and satellites and the ability to watch what people are doing – we know to a certainty what Russia has been providing to the separatists, how Russia is involved with the separatists, and the ways in which Russia has cynically been willing to go to – even lead an effort at the UN, even simultaneously as it is continuing to do land grabbing in Ukraine. And what is happening with respect to Mariupol even now is just simply unacceptable.

So we are talking about additional sanctions, additional efforts. I’m confident that over the course of the next days, people are determined to make it clear we’re not going to play this game. We’re not going to sit there and be part of this kind of extraordinarily craven behavior at the expense of the sovereignty and integrity of a nation. This is behavior that is completely counter to everything that the global community has worked to achieve and to put in place ever since World War II. And I’m confident that the United Kingdom, the United States, and others are prepared to stand up to it.

With respect to ISIS/Daesh, there is a unanimity now that is even more determined than it was previously to put the people in the places that they need to be to get the job done, to commit the resources, and to continue to put the pressure on Daesh in Iraq and into Syria, and wherever they may be. And in Libya, there is an increasing determination – we had a meeting in Washington just the other day with the foreign minister of Egypt, with the EU high representative, with the secretary-general of the United Nations. I will have a discussion with Philip about that. And I’m confident that we’re going to have a unanimous approach over these next weeks that will begin to create an even more coordinated and effective response with respect to Libya itself.

And so there’s a great deal on the plate. We understand that. But one thing I think we know: We have the tools, we have the political will, we have the determination, and we are making gains in Iraq. Territory is increasingly beginning to come back into the hands of the Iraqi Government. The Iraqi military is now beginning to stand up with greater capacity. There is a fixed determination by every country in the region, every country in the region – even those with whom we have major disagreements – they are all standing in opposition to the brutality and to the extraordinary criminality of the Daesh enterprise wherever it is found. And I have genuine confidence in our ability to be able to continue to make that progress. So thank you all.

U.S. CONDEMNS TERRORIST ATTACK IN SINAI THAT KILLED SEVERAL EGYPTIAN SOLDIERS

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

U.S. Condemns Terrorist Attack in Sinai

Press Statement

Jen Psaki

Department Spokesperson

Washington, DC

October 24, 2014

The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack that targeted a military checkpoint in the Sinai near al-Arish, and killed tens of Egyptian soldiers and injured dozens. We extend our condolences to the families of the victims, and hope for the quick and full recovery of the wounded. A prosperous and dynamic Egypt requires an environment of security and stability, and the United States continues to support the Egyptian government’s efforts to counter the threat of terrorism in Egypt as part of our commitment to the strategic partnership between our two countries.

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS AT GAZA DONORS CONFERENCE

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks at the Gaza Donors Conference

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Cairo, Egypt

October 12, 2014

Thank you very much, Foreign Minister Shoukry. Thank you Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; Vice Prime Minister Mustafa; our co-host, Foreign Minister Brende; and our colleague Cathy Ashton, the EU High Representative. I want to particularly thank President Sisi and Foreign Minister Shoukry for their leadership and for their partnership in their efforts for the Palestinian Authority and to help bring all of us here today for their work with Israel on the ceasefire. And we respect and thank them also for their partnership with the United States, not just in working towards a durable ceasefire, but also in helping to pull together, and helping to pull together this massive reconstruction effort.

But President Sisi’s efforts, I think it’s fair to say, have really helped to reaffirm the pivotal role that Egypt has played in this region for so long. The same can also be said of Foreign Minister Brende and Norway, whose historic connection and commitment to these issues go back more than two decades to the Oslo Accords, and I’m personally always impressed by the deep engagement of Norway in efforts to make peace, not just here but elsewhere in the world. And of course, President Abbas, thank you for your perseverance and your partnership.

This has been a difficult few months on a difficult issue in a difficult neighborhood, and no one feels that more than the people of Gaza. This summer, as we’ve heard in some of the statistics that Secretary-General shared with us, more than half a million Gazans had to flee their homes and seek safety. Twenty thousand homes were destroyed or severely damaged, and more than a hundred thousand people remain displaced. And winter is fast approaching.

I have been to Gaza at a time like this, and I will never forget traveling to Izbet Abed Rabo in Gaza in 2009 and watching children playing in the rubble, seeing little Palestinian girls playing where just months earlier, homes and buildings had stood. The humanitarian challenge then was enormous, and shockingly, amazingly – and every speaker has mentioned we area back yet again – the humanitarian challenge is no less enormous in 2014. So the people of Gaza do need our help desperately – not tomorrow, not next week, but they need it now. And that’s why we are all gathered here.

I am proud, personally, that the people of the United States have been working to do their part. We provided $118 million in immediate humanitarian assistance at the time of the crisis, at its height, and the 84 million that we also provided to UNRWA for operations.

Today, I’m pleased to announce an additional immediate 212 million in assistance to the Palestinian people, and obviously we will have to see how things develop in the days ahead. But this immediate money will mean immediate relief and reconstruction, and this money will help meet the Palestinian Authority’s budget needs. This money will, we hope, help promote security and stability, and economic development, and it will provide for immediate distribution of food, medicine, and shelter materials for hundreds of thousands for the coming winter. And it is money that is going to help reconstruct Gaza’s damaged water and sanitation system, so that Palestinians in Gaza will have access to water that they can drink and homes that they can actually start rebuilding.

Taken together, the United States has provided more than 400 million in assistance to the Palestinians over this last year, 330 million just since this summer’s conflict began. But I will say to all of you, and I think everybody knows it: We come here with a sense of awesome responsibility and even resignation about the challenge that we face because we all know that so much more needs to be done, even though there have been encouraging steps.

I’m particularly grateful to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Special Coordinator Robert Serry for helping to broker an important agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority for an end-use monitoring mechanism. And we appreciate Israel’s cooperation in continuing to provide humanitarian access to Gaza through its crossing, which is essential if all of this is going to work.

We welcome that Israel has recently announced new measures that should allow increased trade in agricultural goods between Gaza and the West Bank, and more permits for Palestinian business leaders to enter Israel. We hope to see many more positive steps announced and implemented in the coming weeks and months. And we need to get back to the difficult work not just of reconstruction and recovery in Gaza, but of actually building Gaza’s economy for the long term and developing its institutions under the Palestinian Authority.

The Palestinian Authority and President Abbas must be empowered in all that we do in order to define and determine Gaza’s future. There is, simply, no other way forward, and all of us here need to help the ability of the Palestinian Authority to be able to deliver. There are many steps that we can take. We can and should see Palestinian Authority customs officials at Gaza’s borders. We can and should help the PA to expand its control in Gaza, streamline Gaza’s workforce, and continue to play a key role in the end-use monitoring mechanism for Gaza. And this is absolutely essential, because as long as there is a possibility that Hamas could fire rockets on Israeli civilians at any time, the people of Gaza will remain at risk of future conflict. And even as we work to reconstruct Gaza, we cannot lose sight of the importance of the long-term economic investment for the Palestinian economy that can create a vibrant private sector.

Shortly after I became Secretary of State, working with the Quartet and international local business leaders, we launched the Initiative for the Palestinian Economy. The IPE is a comprehensive plan for Palestinian economic growth in the billions of dollars. And this effort is not about donor projects or corporate social responsibility; we’re talking about real investment. We had McKinsey & Company come in and make analysis of every sector of the Palestinian economy and make a determination about those areas where you could actually reduce unemployment from 21 percent to 8 percent in a period of three years. We’re talking about real investment that produces real jobs and opportunities for thousands of Palestinians, and that is what is going to make the difference over the long term.

Now, we were making real progress, laying down specific projects, creating new opportunities for goods and peoples to move in and out, when tragically conflict once again replaced dialogue. But what I really want to underscore to everyone is what all of us know, but not everyone perhaps wants to confront. This is the third time in less than six years that together with the people of Gaza, we have been forced to confront a reconstruction effort. This is the third time in less than six years that we’ve seen war break out and Gaza left in rubble. This is the third time in less than six years that we’ve had to rely on a ceasefire, a temporary measure, to halt the violence.

Now, I don’t think there’s any person here who wants to come yet again to rebuild Gaza only to think that two years from now or less we’re going to be back at the same table talking about rebuilding Gaza again because the fundamental issues have not been dealt with. A ceasefire is not peace, and we’ve got to find a way to get back to the table and help people make tough choices, real choices. Choices that everybody in this room and outside of it understands have been on the table for too long. Choices about more than just a ceasefire. Because even the most durable of ceasefires is not a substitute for peace. Even the most durable of ceasefires is not a substitute of security for Israel and a state and dignity for the Palestinians.

As everyone here knows, last year the United States joined Israel and the Palestinian Authority in renewed peace negotiations towards a final status settlement. The truth that has not been talked about very much, and there are still legitimate reasons for maintaining that respect for the process, but the truth is that real and significant process was made on substantive issues. Longtime gaps were narrowed and creative ideas were actively being deployed to solve remaining differences.

So I say clearly and with deep conviction here today: The United States remains fully, totally committed to returning to the negotiations not for the sake of it, but because the goal of this conference and the future of this region demand it. There is nothing sustainable about the status quo. In the end, the underlying causes of discontent and suspicion and anger that exist in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza can only be eliminated by resolving the conflict itself. There is no way to fully satisfy the parties’ various demands, no way to bring the full measure of recovery to Gaza, without a long-term prospect for peace that builds confidence about the future. And everything else will be a Band-Aid fix, not a long-term resolution. Everything else will still regrettably fail to address the underlying discontent and suspicion in both Israel and Gaza and the West Bank. Everything else will be the prisoner of impatience that has brought us to this unacceptable and unsustainable status quo.

Make no mistake: What was compelling about a two-state solution a year ago is even more compelling today. Now, I know that in Israel as well as in Gaza and the West Bank, most people would quickly tell you today that as much as they want peace, they think it is a distant dream, something that’s just not possible now. The problem is, having said that, no one then offers an alternative that makes sense. I say it is unacceptable to want peace but then buy into an attitude that makes it inevitable that you cannot have peace. It is unacceptable to simply shrug one’s shoulders, say peace isn’t possible now, and then by doing nothing to make it possible, actually add to the greater likelihood of a downward spiral.

So I say to you clearly and with great conviction: The United States will continue to work with our partners to find a way forward. We are convinced that the needs to both parties on even the most critical issues can be met, and that with common sense, goodwill, and courage we can not only address the long-term needs of Gaza, but we can actually achieve a lasting peace between Israel, the Palestinians, and all their neighbors. We have been clear from day one about the difficulty of the challenge ahead, and we knew there would be tough times. But in the end, we all want the same things: security for the Israelis; freedom, dignity, and a state for the Palestinians; peace and prosperity for both peoples.

So this is a time for leadership. It’s a time for leaders to lead. And at a time when extremism, which offers no constructive vision for the future, is capitalizing on the vacuum, it is imperative for all of us to fill that vacuum with a prospect of peace. That’s what the people of our countries expect from us, and that’s what we must offer them – no less. So out of this conference must come not just money, but a renewed commitment from everybody to work for a peace that meets the aspirations of all – for Israelis, for Palestinians, and for all the peoples of this region. And I promise you the full commitment of President Obama, myself, and the United States of America to try to achieve that. Thank you. (Applause.)

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS WITH EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

Secretary's Remarks: Remarks With Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry After Their Meeting

10/12/2014 06:48 PM EDT

Remarks With Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry After Their Meeting

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Cairo, Egypt

October 12, 2014

FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: (In Arabic.)

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, thank you very much, Sameh. It’s a great pleasure for me to be back in Cairo, and I want to thank President Sisi and Foreign Minister Shoukry for not just the warm welcome that they've issued today to all of us who took part here, but also the tremendous amount of work that they have put into organizing this conference, and frankly, helping to show leadership with respect to one of the most vexing challenges that we face on a global basis. I think all of us are grateful for the effort to convene everybody here. And I want to thank Foreign Minister Brende of Norway also. Norway, as we all know, has had a long, abiding passion for the subject of peace in the Middle East, and going back two decades to Oslo, Norway has really been very much engaged in this effort.

It’s good to be at an event where the results are positive and so many people have come together to contribute significant amounts of money over the next several years. More than 50 countries and organizations came here from near and far, united in our determination not only to rebuild Gaza, but to chart a different course for the future. This is the third time in less than six years that together with the people of Gaza, we've been forced to confront a reconstruction effort. And this is the third time in less than six years that we've seen war break out and Gaza left in rubble. So now is the time to break this cycle, once and for all, and that means addressing both the immediate concerns on the ground as well as the underlying causes of the discontent and anger, frustration, that has fueled this conflict in the first place.

Israel clearly has a right to be deeply concerned about rockets and tunnels and security of its citizens. And Palestinians also have a right to be concerned about day-to-day life and their rights and their future aspirations to have a state. It is possible, in our judgment – President Obama’s, mine, the American people – to bring these parties ultimately together, but you have to believe in that possibility as a starting point. And we do. I’m proud that the people of the United States have provided already $118 million in the last months for immediate humanitarian assistance, and on top of that, some $84 million to the United Nations efforts for the Gaza operations.

Today, I announced an additional $212 million in assistance to the Palestinian people as part of this effort today to create reconstruction funding. This money will mean relief and reconstruction, and it will provide for the distribution of food and medicine, shelter materials, for hundreds of thousands of people in the coming winter. And it will help reconstruct Gaza’s damaged water and sanitation system so that the Palestinians in access – can have access to water on a daily basis that they can drink, and homes that they can return to or start rebuilding.

Now, obviously, it goes without saying that there’s much more to be done. We all understand that. Today is a beginning, not an end. Maybe, to paraphrase an old saying, it’s the beginning of the end with respect to the conflict components, but that remains yet to be seen. In order for the construction to succeed, there has to be real change on the ground. Even the most durable of ceasefires is not a substitute for real security for Israel or a state and dignity for the Palestinians. There is no way to fully satisfy each party’s demands – the full measure of disarmament or security for Israel, or the full measure of rights for Palestinians in Gaza. There’s no way to fully satisfy that without, in the end, building a long-term prospect for peace that builds confidence about the future.

So this is a time to remember what both sides stand to gain by moving forward, and candidly, what will be lost if we do not. Egypt has long played a pivotal role on this issue, from the peace treaty with Israel to its continuous efforts this summer to broker a ceasefire in Gaza. And Egypt remains a key partner for the United States and a leader in the region, and I look forward to conversations further tomorrow with both President al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Shoukry.

During my recent visits to Cairo, I've had candid conversations with President Sisi about the challenges that both of our countries face, and he has underscored that the central issue to Egypt’s future is economic. You got to put people back to work; you've got to build the dignity of day-to-day life; you have to open up opportunity; you have to attract capital; you have to prove to the world that the country is stable and open for business. And that’s what the current government is working hard to do.

And in our meetings today, I reiterated to Foreign Minister Shoukry our strong support for Egypt as it undertakes significant reforms and works towards economic transformation for all Egyptians. Even today, we talked about the possibility of General Electric bringing emergency and immediate power to Egypt and helping to be able to build out the power grid, which is essential to tourism, it’s essential to business, it’s essential to day-to-day life. And we believe there are ways for us to be able to work together and cooperate in these endeavors. And I talked just yesterday with the CEO of the company, who is prepared to work with this government in order to try to help make this kind of a difference.

The foreign minister and I also discussed, as we almost always have, the essential role of a vibrant civil society, a free press, due process under law. And there’s no question that Egyptian society always has been stronger – and is stronger – when all of its citizens have a say and a stake in its success. And Egypt has long been a country with a strong civil society. We look forward, in the days ahead, to Egypt’s announcement for its parliamentary elections in the near term.

And we also continued our conversations to help define the specific role that Egypt will play in the coalition against ISIL. We’re very grateful for President Sisi’s and the foreign minister’s engagement on that. From the word “go,” they have been in discussions and involved. And as President Obama made clear, the United States is committed to degrading and ultimately defeating ISIL. And I’m very pleased to say that more than 60 partners have now committed to joining us in this effort in a variety of ways. Not everybody will play a military role or a direct kinetic role. Some will help with respect to the delegitimization of Daesh’s claims with respect to religion. Some will work to prevent the flow of foreign fighters. Some will work to prevent the flow of funding. Some will work to train and assist and equip. And others will take part in military activity.

But all told, there is a broad-based coalition throughout this region that understands the evil represented by Daesh and that will stand against it, and stand for something – for the people’s rights to have a future that they can determine, not be dictated to, and certainly without fear of being beheaded or raped, children killed, grown people with their hands tied behind their back and shot en masse. This is a grotesque series of atrocities that have no place in the 21st century, and we are not going to go back to Medieval times.

So the coalition required to eliminate ISIL is not only or even primarily military in nature, and we welcome everybody’s contribution to that effort. Particularly, the effort to counter ISIL’s false claims about Islam, a peaceful religion. There is nothing about ISIL, as the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia said, or the council that issues fatwas said, nothing whatsoever about ISIL that is related to Islam.

So all of these components have to work together in lockstep. And General John Allen, who is coordinating this – not commanding the military, but coordinating the overall coalition effort – just visited Egypt and other partner countries to make certain that all of the pieces are coming together. As an intellectual and cultural capital of the Muslim world, Egypt has a critical role to continue to play, as it has been, in publicly renouncing the ideology of hatred and violence that ISIL spreads, and we are very appreciative for the work that Egypt is already doing.

This was all a central topic of our discussion in Jeddah just last month, and again today in my conversations with Foreign Minister Shoukry, and it is really important that the religious establishments at al-Azhar and Dar al-Ifta are both fully supportive and understanding of the need to draw these distinctions with respect to religion.

So that’s where we are right now, but we know with absolutely clarity where we need to be in the months ahead, and we are determined to get there. I hope that over the course of the next days and weeks, more partners will come forward and more contributions will be announced, because, as I said a moment ago, ISIL has absolutely no place in the modern world, and it’s up to the world to enforce that truth. So we are committed to working with Egypt and with every nation of conscience and of conviction to degrade and ultimately defeat it wherever it exists.

And Mr. Foreign Minister, I thank you again for the warm hospitality today, for a well-organized conference, for a terrific result. We greatly appreciate your leadership and commitment on so many issues on which we are working together, and I look forward to continuing to work with you. Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: Thank you.

MODERATOR: (In Arabic.)

QUESTION: (In Arabic.)

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, first of all, let me say that the United States, President Obama and myself, our whole country, are deeply committed to the possibility, to the need, the urgency, of having two states that live side by side, two peoples living in peace – Palestinian and Israeli. And we are as passionate and committed to achieving that goal today as we were on the day that President Obama began his term six years ago, and when I became Secretary of State and began the talks that reconvened. Regrettably, those talks fell apart, frankly, over more of an issue of process – the delivery of prisoners and timing and methodology – than over the fundamental divisive issues, even though there were still some differences. I haven’t talked a great deal about those talks and I don’t intend to begin now because we do want to get back to them, but I will summarize it by simply saying that progress was made – significant progress in certain areas – and we have a very clear vision of what each party needs in order to achieve two states. But it is up to the leaders; both leaders must make the decision that they’re prepared to come back and negotiate in order to achieve the peace that everybody in this region hopes for.

There wasn't one foreign minister that I met today, whether in the region or outside of the region, that didn't raise the issue of, “When can we get back to negotiations? How do we get back to negotiations? I hope you’re going to continue to push to get back to negotiations.” A continued refrain, because everybody understands – or almost everybody – the benefits that could come from peace for this region. Imagine the possibilities of the Arab Peace Initiative finally being, in one form or another – not exactly as it’s written today, but through the negotiations, using it as a foundation and a basis, then coming together and negotiating – imagine if all of the countries of the region were free to be able to make peace because Israel and the Palestinians have made peace. Imagine what would happen for travel, for education, for development, for business, for the flow of capital, for travel, for tourism. This would be the tourism center of the world. The possibilities are absolutely – fortunately, not beyond imagination, but really rather amazing.

So we are going to continue to push, but we can’t want to make peace, the United States or Egypt or any other country, more than the people in those two places want to make peace. And we certainly can’t want to do it more than the leaders want to make peace. But we’re going to continue. We are not stopping. We are committed to continuing to put ideas on the table, to continue to talk. As President Obama, however, has said, we have a lot of things on the table and we hope the leaders will make it clear quickly that they’re serious and they want to get back to the business of doing this because, if not, we've obviously going to put focus into those places and things where there’s a prospect of making a difference in the near term because of the urgency of other issues.

But this is urgent at this moment. That’s why I’m here. It’s why the President asked me to come here. And we have deep hopes that we can see the leaders of both the Palestinian Authority and of Israel make the decision that there are reasons they can see in the current construct of events in the region, the current leadership of the region – President Sisi, King Abdullah of Jordan, others – all of whom want to move in this direction and are ready to contribute to it. And hopefully, those leaders will see that this is a moment to actually take advantage of, not to run away from.

FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: (In Arabic.)

MODERATOR: Our last question comes from Brad Klapper of The Associated Press. I think the microphone’s right behind you. Yes, thank you.

QUESTION: Thank you. Mr. Secretary, I’d like to pick up on your discussions you had today about the effort against the Islamic State. In Iraq, Anbar province could possibly fall, and already hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in Baghdad and its environs are living in fear. In Kobani, on the Syrian-Turkish border, the United Nations and others are warning of a massacre. And in both places, the ground – local ground troops that we’re hoping can turn the tide are clearly not up to the task yet. What is – what will the United States and its allies do to change the dynamic, and urgently, because it looks as if, on the one hand, there’s the threat of a major strategic defeat, and on the other, possible genocidal acts?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, thank you. A very important question. First of all, obviously we are all very concerned about the reports of gains in Kobani, and we’re closely monitoring the situation. In fact, we’re doing much more than just monitoring it; we’ve been deeply engaged with strikes in the last days. Even today, there were more strikes. And there was news today that they are continuing to hold the town. It has not been taken in completion, parts of it have. But we are in discussions with – I talked with President Barzani the other day. I've talked with Prime Minister Davutoglu a couple of times. And we’re in conversations with our partners in this coalition.

But I want to make it clear that as they make decisions about what the options are, Kobani does not define the strategy of the coalition with respect to Daesh. Kobani is one community, and it’s a tragedy what is happening there, and we don’t diminish that, but we have said from day one it is going to take a period of time to bring the coalition thoroughly to the table to rebuild some of the morale and capacity of the Iraqi army and to begin to focus where we ought to be focusing first, which is in Iraq, while we are degrading and eliminating some of the command and control centers and supply centers and fuel centers and training centers for ISIL within Syria.

Now, that’s the current strategy. And we expect, as we have said, there will be ups and there will be downs over the next days, as there are in any kind of conflict. But we are confident about our ability to pull this strategy together, given the fact that every country in the region is opposed to Daesh, without exception. And whether it’s Iran or Lebanon or Syria itself or Turkey or Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, they’re all opposed, and five Arab nations are involved in conducting attacks in Syria. So over time, we believe that the strategy will build, the capacity will build, Daesh will become more isolated. But ultimately, it is Iraqis who will have to take back Iraq. It is Iraqis in Anbar who will have to fight for Anbar. And we’re confident that just as that happened before, that can and will happen again, though it will take some time to build that capacity in order for it to be able to be effective.


So no one should anticipate – as President Obama said from day one, no one has been guilty of any exaggerated expectation here, certainly not from the Administration. The military leaders, the civilian leaders, from day one, have said this will be difficult, this will take time, we have to rebuild, we have to constitute the coalition, responsibilities have to be divided up, people have to get to their place of responsibility, and that is taking place now.

Meanwhile, ISIL has the opportunity to take advantage of that particular build-up, as they are doing. But I’d rather have our hand than theirs for the long run. And I think there are a lot of people in the region who know that.

FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS WITH ALGERIAN FOREIGN MINISTER RAMTANE LAMAMRA

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks With Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra Before Their Meeting

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Treaty Room

Washington, DC

September 18, 2014

SECRETARY KERRY: Good evening, everybody. Thank you very much. I’m sorry to keep you waiting. I apologize for running a little late. But it’s a great pleasure for me to be able to welcome the foreign minister of Algeria here to Washington. Foreign Minister Lamamra and I are getting to be old friends, if not a little older, and I’m enormously appreciative of the wonderful visit that I had to Algeria where we talked about a great many of the regional issues.

Today I want to particularly thank the Government of Algeria for their very prompt and strong support for the coalition to deal with the problem of ISIL. We’re appreciative of their efforts in counterterrorism particularly.

And also in the course of the next days in New York I will be hosting a small meeting of key nations that have an interest in Libya. We all know that Libya is challenged right now. A near neighbor, Algeria has critical relationships, and together with Egypt the region is working very hard to help deal with this issue. We want to be supportive and we want to work cooperatively, and I look forward to not just the discussion we have today but to furthering our efforts in this small group meeting that takes place in New York.

So these are important days; there’s a lot happening. All of us need to rely on each other and work together cooperatively, and I’m glad we have a friend and a partner in Algeria. Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER LAMAMRA: Thank you very much. Well, back in the month of April President Bouteflika and I were very much pleased to receive John Kerry. It was his first official visit to Algeria, building on the solid foundations that our predecessors did put for our strategic partnership. I believe that the meeting was fruitful; it has opened very, very numerous avenues for us to work closely together. Our bilateral partnership is promising; it encompasses so many areas of business. It is not anymore limited to energy; it covers so many areas, and it is really a good terrain and good ground for American companies to come and to contribute in the development of Algeria.

In the political area, I believe that we have been developing the strategic partnership which covers so many areas. We work closely together. We share values and interests, and I believe that our consultations have always the impact of moving forward issues in a way that contributes to ensuring the blessings of a normal life to our people in our region and beyond our region.

Algeria and the U.S. have been developing a very effective and action-oriented counterterrorism partnership. I think it has proven to be very serious. Algeria, as you know, can be counted among the few countries that have effectively defeated terrorism. We have paid the very high price for that, but we enjoy today security, a very reasonable level of security and a quietness in our country. And we do contribute; as I say, we are a security and stability exporting countries. We work with our neighbors, we develop very good relations and partnership, and as the Secretary said, Libya as well as Mali, immediate neighboring countries to Algeria, where as you know, terrorism and instability prevail. They are the focus of our immediate diplomatic action, while of course contributing our share to resolving other issues beyond our borders.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, my friend. Very important.

FOREIGN MINISTER LAMAMRA: Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you all.

PRESS AVAILABILITY: SECRETARY KERRY AND EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAMEH SHOUKRY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Joint Press Availability With Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry

Press Availability

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Cairo, Egypt

September 13, 2014

FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: (Via interpreter) Today we had discussions, (inaudible) long discussions during which the U.S. Secretary met President Abdelfattah al-Sisi, and this was an opportunity for them to discuss bilateral relations in details and openly. And they addressed several issues regionally and on the global (inaudible), the situation in Iraq or Syria or Libya, in addition to developments related to the cease-fire in Gaza.

They also discussed the meeting that they held in – concerning terrorism and joint and common action in order to address the phenomena of terrorism in general, and also with respect to the spread of ISIS throughout Syria and Iraq. They also discussed the importance of the strategic relationship between the U.S. and Egypt, and they agreed on the importance of continuing this relationship and further enhancing in the service of the interests of both countries on the basis of mutual respect and also the status of the U.S. as a major global power and Egypt as a regional power. And they focused on the political scene and the ability of each party to positively impact the situation and reach a positive resolution to several issues in the region.

The discussions also addressed the Palestinian question, which is a central problem in the Middle East region, and there was agreement in opinion over the importance of resuming the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations leading up to the founding of a Palestinian state on Palestinian territory with Jerusalem – East Jerusalem as its capital. And there was agreement that resolving this problem will result in stability and the removal of several of the root causes of tension at the regional and global levels.

I would welcome Secretary Kerry, and I have had the opportunity to discuss several issues with him here in Egypt and also through the constant communication that we have together, and I would like to thank him for his cooperation, and I hope there would be certainly more opportunities in the future to continue our joint work in the interest of both countries. Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, thank you very much, Foreign Minister Shoukry, my friend Sameh. I’m very appreciative for that. I’m very appreciative for the welcome here. And indeed, Foreign Minister Shoukry and I are constantly in touch with each other, and I think we have a very strong working relationship which is now defining itself even in more initiatives that we will be working on together. I’m very pleased to be back here in Cairo and I’m very grateful to Foreign Minister Shoukry and President al-Sisi for their invitation to come back here in order to talk about the coalition that we are building to deal with ISIL, but also to deal with a number of other very complicated and important issues in the region, ranging from Gaza-Palestine to the Iran nuclear negotiations, Libya, and other issues.

I had an opportunity to meet this morning also with Secretary General Nabil Eraraby of the Arab League, and I want to thank the Secretary General for his continued commitment to peace and to security within the Arab world. The relationship that the United States and Egypt share has long been a critical part of the United States relationship with the entire region. And today, I reiterated to President al-Sisi and to Foreign Minister Shoukry the United States commitment and desire to see Egypt succeed in the many transitions that it currently faces. We will support Egypt as it undertakes significant economic reforms, as it holds parliamentary elections at near term, and as it works to follow through on its pledge to protect human rights, which we believe is an essential ingredient of stability.

We also pledged to continue to work closely with Egypt to advance our common strategic interests, a number of which were the centerpiece of our discussions here today. I reiterated to President al-Sisi and to Foreign Minister Shoukry how appreciative we are of Egypt’s leadership in brokering the Gaza cease-fire. Together, our nations and other international partners will continue to discuss the path forward for the two parties to be able to reconvene in Cairo, to work through the critical underlying issues that have stood in the way of an enduring cease-fire, and frankly have prevented it for too long.

We also discussed the clear need to support the elected government next door in Libya. Both Egypt and the United States understand that while our nations must continue to push for a peaceful resolution, ultimately, the Libyan people and their elected representatives are the only ones who can decide that it is time to resolve their conflicts through constructive political dialogue. And we hope they will make that decision as swiftly as possible. What we both know is they had an election, the election had an outcome, and everyone should respect the outcome of that election.

Our conversations also focused extensively on our shared fight against terrorism and extremism. Egypt is on the front lines of extremist threats, particularly when it comes to the extremist groups in the Sinai. And that is why, in an effort to support the Egyptian Government’s work to counter those threats, last month we announced our intention to deliver 10 Apache helicopters to the Egyptian military. The fact is that in today’s globalized world, it’s only a matter of time before the threat of terrorism anywhere becomes a threat of terrorism everywhere.

That has certainly been proven true in the case of ISIL. It is an organization whose brutality and sheer evil knows no bounds. ISIL claims to be fighting on behalf of Islam, but it actually has nothing to do with Islam. It is increasingly clear that its message of hate is rejected by the overwhelming majority of Muslims all around the world. I have heard this loud and clear from leader after leader in Muslim states that I have visited, and it is clear in the pronouncements of religious leaders around the world in meetings that I have had throughout the region this week, including the conference in Jeddah where I met with the leaders from Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and the GCC states. And we all met with the sole goal of discussing the global effort to take on ISIL and to continue to fight against terrorism.

As an intellectual and cultural capital of the Muslim world, Egypt has a critical role to play in publicly renouncing the ideology that ISIL disseminates. This was a very important feature of our discussions in Jeddah and again today here in Cairo. And it is something that the Egyptian religious establishments at Al Azhar and Dar al-Ifta – they both fully support and understand.

As President Obama explained earlier this week, we believe the only way to eliminate the ISIL threat is by building a global coalition that will support the Iraqi Government across a number of critical efforts, including by providing military support, but also – importantly, because this won’t be done by military alone – importantly, humanitarian aid, by addressing the illicit funding streams that come to ISIL, by stopping the flow of foreign fighters which all countries can become engaged in, and by repudiating the gross distortion of Islam that ISIL is spreading to whoever will listen.

So we’re very grateful that both Egypt and the Arab League have supported this coalition every step of the way. And in each of the meetings that I had today, we discussed how we could better accelerate the efforts in bringing more nations on board and in dividing up the responsibilities. We also discussed the urgent need to engage our international partners as well as Iraq’s diverse groups in supporting the new, inclusive Iraq Government. And this needs to be at the forefront of every aspect of the global coalition’s work.

Today, we discussed with President al-Sisi steps that Egypt can and will take with respect to Iraq. And I’m very pleased to say that today, Prime Minister Abadi, the new prime minister of Iraq, announced that they are taking some very specific steps to minimize the potential for any civilian casualties as they take on ISIL in populated areas.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Shoukry, Secretary General Elaraby, and I will meet again in Paris for the International Conference on Peace and Security in Iraq. And there, we will continue our work to move the coalition forward. Almost every country has an ability to play some kind of a role in this fight against ISIL, and to join this coalition one way or the other. And we are committed to working with nations in every corner of the globe to figure out in what way they can constructively contribute to the effort to push back against terrorism.

The bottom line is that terrorists like ISIL have no place in the modern world, but it’s up to the world to enforce that truth. Engaging the global community of nations in that effort is our goal in Paris, and it will be our goal at the United Nations General Assembly in several different events that will focus on Iraq and on ISIL and on foreign fighters. And it will be our goal, I am convinced, from our meetings today and over the last week – it will be our goal, in every meeting that we have on the international basis together, working to degrade and ultimately to defeat ISIL wherever it exists. Thank you.

MODERATOR: (In Arabic.)

QUESTION: (Via interpreter) (Inaudible.) My question is to John Kerry. U.S.-Egyptian relations have witnessed perhaps some (inaudible). But what is the future of these relations and what’s the strategic dimension in this relationship?

And my question to Minister Shoukry: There are meetings that are taking place (inaudible) countries and most of the UN. What is Egypt’s vision regarding what’s going on? And also what is its position towards the situation in Iraq and fighting terrorism? Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Do you want me to go first now?

FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: Please.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, thank you for the question. As I think you know, I served in the United States Senate for 29 years, and many times as a senator, I came here to Egypt, to Cairo. So for many years, I have had a sense of the importance of Egypt. Egypt is one quarter of the population of the Arab world. And as I said in my comments a moment ago, Egypt is a cultural, an intellectual center as well as a critical leader with respect to this part of the world, and obviously, with its history, carries great importance on a global basis.

Egypt has been going through an enormous transition itself in these last few years. Most importantly, the people of Egypt have had a chance to vote and define their future. And President al-Sisi is now trying to work hard to implement that future, and the United States wants this government to succeed, because its success is important to the region, important to all Egyptians, obviously, and important to the world. Egypt is an ally, an important partner in regional security. Egypt had the courage to make peace years ago with Israel, and that brought great pain and suffering to Egypt, but it was a courageous act. It was the right thing to do. And today, Egypt is helping to broker a cease-fire to make peace a leader for stability and for the region.

So we have great hopes that this economic transition, this cultural, this political transition taking place will grow in its dimensions. And President al-Sisi reaffirmed to me today the commitment of Egypt to hold the parliamentary elections, the importance of moving forward on any number of fronts to stabilize, to attract capital, to bring business in, to create jobs, and to focus on the real business of governing. The United States will work with Egypt in that process because of our longstanding friendship of importance.

And yes, sometimes friends have a disagreement over one thing or another, but friends also understand the roots of their relationship and the reason for continuing to work for those things that are of common interest. That’s exactly what the United States and Egypt will continue to do.

FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: (Via interpreter) (Inaudible) responsibility with respect to achieving stability in the Middle East and at a global level. This is an immediate interest to Egyptian national interest and reflects the desire of the Egyptian people to create a framework that would respond to its own needs and development and (inaudible), also to build a modern democratic state that would positively respond and react on its regional and international (inaudible).

The (inaudible) have put forward a vision for fighting terrorism and the rise of – and also to fight ISIL because Egypt believes that it’s very important for the world to continue their efforts strongly to fight this extremism and these terrorist actions that take Islam as a cover, when in reality, they seek to realize political gains and use military methods and barbaric methods. This cannot be in line with the (inaudible) of the modern times or the interest of the peoples of the region. We support all international effort to fight terrorism and we support these efforts and we will take all measures that are intended to eliminate this phenomena altogether, whether in Libya or any other part of the Arab world or in the African continent in particular.

With respect to the Libyan issue, on the 13th, we will hold a conference on Libya with the participation of our European partners who also look at the political structure that Egypt has proposed to find a resolution – political solution to the situation in Libya, and to also alert people to the threats associated with the use of military action. We are also considering the interests of the Libyan people and we hope that the conflicting parties would come together for a political solution. At the same time, we will also continue to support the legitimacy of the Libyan Government and parliament, because it’s the only true reflecting, of course, of the desire of the Libyan people who have elected, and that has been recognized also by the international community.

We hope that this support will assist the Libyan people and institutions in restoring their ability to control the future of Libya.

MODERATOR: And (inaudible), Jason from Reuters.

QUESTION: My first question is for Mr. Foreign Minister. Is there any evidence of Islamic states or ISIL linking up with Ansar either through teaching or other forms of cooperation, and is this a concern? And I just have a follow-up: From your perspective, should the coalition against ISIL be brought in doubt – or, sorry, be limited to Sunni Arabs? Should it include Iran?

And, sorry, one last follow-up question for Mr. Secretary: You keep raising human rights issues and Egypt’s leaders keep disregarding you, most notably when three Al Jazeera journalists were jailed a day after you called for their release. Isn’t it clear the Egyptians are disregarding your concerns because they understand you want their cooperation in counterterrorism?

FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: (Via interpreter) With respect to the first part of the question and the relations between terrorist organization, we definitely monitor these relationships between the various organizations, and in the end, this – ideologically speaking, this organization is linked and these organizations share that common vision, and we don’t believe there’s a different – perhaps just in the tactics used by these organizations and the way they depict themselves to the international community.

But we believe that this extremist, exclusionary ideology is common among all terrorist organizations, and the cooperation is something we monitor, and we realize that they cross borders and defeat the idea of the national state, and they want to eliminate these states so that this extremist ideology will prevail. We believe also that this action and the elimination of terrorism is a collective responsibility for members of the international community, and we will take honest and credible steps in order to achieve this goal to prevent any form of funding or communication any (inaudible) between these organizations, and also to fight the ideas of these extremist organization. There should be agreement between members of the international community to eliminate these phenomena wherever they may be.

SECRETARY KERRY: Look, let me be clear. The United States doesn’t ever trade its concern for human rights for any other objective. It is always a concern. It’s an honest concern. And we had a frank discussion today about the concerns that have been expressed. I believe that President al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Shoukry and others are well aware of concerns that have been expressed and are, in fact, working at a number of things, including reviewing the demonstration law and other things that have been expressed as part of those concerns.

Now, just as in the United States, we have a separation of powers, so they have a separation of powers here with an independent judiciary. And I am personally confident that over the course of the next weeks, months, days – on an appropriate schedule that is controlled by Egyptians, not by me or anybody else complaining – that issues will be addressed as they ought to be. And I am confident that this is a concern shared by this government, and let’s just see how things play out in the months and days ahead.

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS REGARDING MURDER OF STEVEN SOTLOFF

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

Steven Sotloff

Press Statement

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Washington, DC

September 3, 2014

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Yesterday, the world bore witness again to the unfathomable brutality of ISIL terrorist murderers when we saw Steven Sotloff, an American journalist who left home in Florida to tell the story of brave people in the Middle East, taken from us in an act of medieval savagery by a coward hiding behind a mask.

There are no words strong enough to express the sorrow we feel for his family, particularly his mother, whose heartbreaking video plea spoke to every single parent who has ever worried about a son or daughter who goes to dangerous places to do the work they love.

This young man was a driven and courageous journalist, reporting from places like Syria, Libya, and Egypt. Steven Sotloff's reporting was as empathetic as his killers are evil. He focused on the stories of average people trapped in war, and documented their day-in and day-out struggle for dignity. Like Martha Gellhorn, he chronicled humanity in the face of inhumanity, and he told the story of enormous generational events as if they were happening to someone you knew from your own life.

For so many who worked so long to bring Steven and the other Americans home safely, this was not how the story should've ended. It's a punch to the gut. The U.S. Government has used every military, diplomatic, and intelligence tool we have, and we always will. Our special operations forces bravely risked a military operation to save these lives, and we've reached out diplomatically to everyone and anyone who might be able to help. That effort continues, and our prayers remain – as they always are – with the families of all hostages who remain trapped in Syria today.

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS ON HUMANITARIAN CEASE-FIRE IN GAZA

FROM:  THE STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks on the Humanitarian Cease-fire Announcement in Gaza

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

New Delhi, India

August 1, 2014

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Good morning. I’m sorry to get you all up at this hour. I’m not going to take any questions, but I think a few of the staff will be around to answer a few questions for you, and I’ll just make a brief statement.

This morning, Israel and the Palestinian factions have agreed that they are now prepared to implement a 72-hour unconditional humanitarian cease-fire. So starting later this morning at 8:00 August 1st, the parties are expected to cease all offensive military activities, and neither side will advance beyond its current locations. They will stay where they are in place. Israel will be able to continue its defensive operations for those tunnels that are behind its lines, and the Palestinians will be able to receive food, medicine, and additional humanitarian assistance, as well as to be able to tend to their wounded, bury their dead, be able to in safe areas travel to their homes, and take advantage of the absence – hopefully, hopefully – of violence for these 72 hours.

Then, as soon as the cease-fire is underway tomorrow morning – I talked to the Egyptian foreign minister tonight – Egypt will issue invitations to the parties to come to Cairo immediately in order to engage in serious and focused negotiations with Egypt to address the underlying causes of this conflict. And we hope and we expect both sides to raise all the topics of concern. The parties, obviously, need to find a way to address Israel’s security concerns and to ensure that the people of Gaza can live in safety and in dignity. And for our part, the United States will be sending a small delegation to Cairo to assist and take part in these negotiations.
As I said, this will last for 72 hours – three days – precious time. It is a lull of opportunity, a moment for the sides and the different factions to be able to come together with the state of Israel in an effort to try to address ways to find a sustainable cease-fire and then, obviously, ultimately, over a longer period of time, address the underlying issues. Let me also add that tomorrow morning the United States will also join in the effort to provide humanitarian assistance. President Obama has made available some $47 million to help ensure that some of the relief is able to come in, and many of our international partners have also made commitments over the course of the last weeks.

Now, obviously, while we are grateful that the violence and the bloodshed has the opportunity to stop for more than 24 hours, it is up to the parties – all of them – to take advantage of this moment. There are no guarantees. This is a difficult, complicated issue, years and years in the building, and I think everyone knows it has not been easy to get to this point. And everyone knows that it will not be easy even to get beyond this point, but it is imperative that people make the best effort to try to find common ground and do so.

A lot of folks have been working hard at this effort. I want to thank Prime Minister Netanyahu, who I know wants to see the people of Israel live in security, free from rockets, free from attacks from tunnels. And I know he has worked hard at this. We’ve had many phone calls, sometimes in the middle of the night, and I’m pleased that he thought this moment was an appropriate one to embrace this effort, this cease-fire. I want to thank UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Special Coordinator Serry for their continuous efforts to try to help create a framework as well as the call for a cease-fire, and helping to galvanize the international community. And I’m grateful also to President al-Sisi and to Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who has been consistently on the phone working this, and Egypt will host these talks. And this effort is built on the original Egyptian initiative that began the talk of a cease-fire. So Palestinian President Abbas has been consistently working behind the scenes, sending his emissaries to various places to work effectively, and I appreciate his leadership in this effort.

Now, I want to re-emphasize: This is not a time for congratulations and joy, or anything except a serious determination, a focus by everybody to try to figure out the road ahead. This is a respite. It’s a moment of opportunity, not an end; it’s not a solution. It’s the opportunity to find the solution. And President Obama hopes that all the parties will work diligently to do so. From the moment the President asked me to travel some 12 days or so ago, the President has been consistently on the phone, tracking this, talking with the prime minister and others in an effort to help to move us to this place.

But we have to understand: Both parties have – all the people involved in this have strong demands and strong visions about what the future should look like. Israel has to be able to live in peace and security, without terror attacks, without rockets, without tunnels, without sirens going off in the day. And Palestinians need to be able to live with the opportunity to educate their children and move freely and share in the rest of the world, and to lead a life that is different from the one they have long suffered. So we hope that this moment of opportunity will be grabbed by the parties, but no one can force them to do that, obviously.

So we come at it with sober reflection about the lives lost and the violence suffered; the soldiers killed, the individuals killed; the three kids who were kidnapped and murdered in the beginning of this, and then a retribution killing. There’s been too much of it for most people’s judgment here, and our hope is that reason could possibly prevail to find the road forward. And with that, I’ll leave you to the folks who might give you a little more sort of background and everything else. Thank you all very much.