Signing of the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty, October 26, 1994

Honorable President of the United States; His Royal Highness, King Hussein the First; President of the State of Israel, citizens of Israel, the Jordanian people, shalom.

I look around me from this stage at the Arava, and I see arid desert on the Jordanian side and on the Israeli side. There is almost no life here, there is no water, no well, only mines. Such were the relations between Israel and Jordan in the last 47 years: arid desert. Not even one green leaf. No tree, nor a flower. A bold decision was needed, sometimes while clenching your teeth, to overcome this dryness, the aridness between these two peoples, the mines. We had many days of sorrow. You had many days of grief – but the bereavement is one, like the heroism that is one. We needed a lot of emotional strength, from both sides, to forgive for the bereavement that we have caused each other, to evacuate the mine fields that separated us for so many years. The wilderness was in the heart of both nations for almost two generations. Now the time has come not only to dream about a better future, but to make it.

Leadership can clear a path, show a way. The way itself, members of both peoples must pave. I don’t believe that we would have reached this great moment were it not for the will for peace that was in the hearts of the two nations: in the hearts of military people as in the hearts of intellectuals, in the hearts of farmers as in the hearts of truck drivers crossing the roads of the Arava in Jordan and in Israel. In the hearts of teachers as in the hearts of the kindergarten children. Two peoples with the obstinate will to determine that in their generation a great revolution will take place in the Middle East. I look from this stage at the Arava, and I look at you: you and the next generation, they are the ones who will turn this arid place into a desert oasis. The gray color and the depressing heat of this desert tomorrow will be the green color of life. His Royal Highness, peace between nations is peace between people, it is the expression of trust and appreciation. I learned to get to know and to admire the quiet and smiling power with which you protect your nation, the courage with which you lead your people. Not only our states are making peace with each other today, not only our nations are shaking hands for peace here in the Arava. You and I are making our peace here, peace of soldiers, peace of friends. Thank you, President of the United States, for your support in the entire process, so vital in achieving the final result. Thank you to the representatives of Europe, the representatives of Russia, Foreign Minister Andrey Kozyrev, representative of the President of Russia Boris Yeltsin, and the representatives of all the nations present here at the ceremony. Thank you to all of you. Babies were born today in Jerusalem. Babies were born today in Amman. New lives have come into the world. Good morning to the Jordanian mother; shalom to you, the Israeli mother; the peace born today gives you great hope that the child born to you today will never know another war – and you will know no more sadness.

Shalom and Salam.