US Remarks With Israeli Defense Minister

Remarks With Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak Before Their Meeting

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
June 23, 2010

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, it’s a pleasure to welcome back an old friend and someone who is certainly deeply involved in every important decision that affects Israel’s security and the prospects for peace. I’m looking forward to talking with Minister Barak on a wide range of matters and I thank him again for making time to be here.

DEFENSE MINISTER BARAK: Thank you. I’m glad also to be here. I thought we had come from a place where there is never a dull moment. I find that even here it can happen from time to time. (Laughter.) But we are fully committed to work together with the Secretary to try to find a way to move forward with the peace process in Israel and put aside all the difficulties that arose in the recent weeks and put them behind us in a cooperative manner in order to concentrate on how to change the direction of the events in the whole area. In this regard, I cannot – no one can underestimate the importance, the commitment, devotion, the resources that the Secretary puts into helping players in the region to find a way to move forward. Thank you very much.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you, Ehud. The old proverbial handshake? (Laughter.) Thank you.

QUESTION: How confident are you of getting the conditions right to restart the direct talks?

SECRETARY CLINTON: We’re going to be talking about this and many other things.

ENDS

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