THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary (New York, New York)
For Immediate Release November 7, 2000
STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY
President Clinton announced today the membership of the Sharm el-Sheikh Fact Finding Committee that will examine the
current crisis between Israelis and Palestinians. The committee, to which Prime Minister Barak and Chairman Arafat
agreed at the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit, October 16-17, was developed with them as well as in consultation with United
Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. The President has asked five outstanding individuals, who represent the best
tradition of public service both at home and abroad, to serve on the committee. The Committee, which will be chaired by
former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, also will include former U.S. Senator Warren Rudman, former Turkish President
Suleyman Demirel, European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, and
Norwegian Foreign Minister Thorbjorn Jagland. The committee, working with Israel and the Palestinian Authority, will
provide an independent and objective review of the current crisis with the goal of preventing its recurrence. In order
for the committee to carry out its mission, the two sides must be making a serious and good faith effort to implement
the commitments they undertook at Sharm el-Sheikh to assure that the violence subsides.
In keeping with the understandings reached at Sharm el-Sheikh, the President also has invited Chairman Arafat and Prime
Minister Barak to Washington for separate consultations on November 9 and 12, respectively. The immediate priority must
be to implement all of the provisions of the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement, particularly those aimed at stopping the
violence and the bloodshed. Beyond that, President Clinton will discuss with the two leaders how best to move forward
and resume a political dialogue.
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