The White House, President George W. Bush Click to print this document

For Immediate Release
January 8, 2008

Setting the Record Straight: President Bush Consistently Focused on Defining a Palestinian State
The Washington Post Inaccurately Claims The President Is "Scaling Back" Ambitions For Middle East Peace Process

     Fact sheet Setting the Record Straight
     Fact sheet In Focus: Middle East

"[O]ne report today … suggested that the President is backtracking … suggesting that the President had said that we would actually have a sovereign, final Palestinian state by the end of 2008.  The President has never said that.  We've been very clear that what 2008 should be used for is to help the negotiating parties focus on the big picture, but also get into some of the nitty gritty and very difficult issues, such as borders and settlements, that are going to have to be solved."

─ White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, 1/8/08

The Washington Post wrongly says President Bush is "already scaling back … ambitions" for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process by "saying now it may be possible to set only the 'definition' of a Palestinian state by the time he leaves office."  (Jonathan Finer and Michael Abramowitz, "On First Trip To Israel, Bush Hopes To Inject Vigor Into Peace Talks," The Washington Post, 1/8/08)

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