For Immediate Release
February 8, 2005

Global Message

From remarks by President Bush after meeting with his Cabinet, 2/7/05

Israel's Prime Minister Sharon and Palestinian President Abbas are to meet in Egypt on Tuesday.

Palestinian President Abbas comes to the table with a mandate from many Palestinians. He has been through an election and was endorsed by the Palestinian people.

Any meeting is part of a process, because in order to achieve the objective of two states living side-by-side in peace, there needs to be a level of trust between all parties who will be invested in a Palestinian state.

President Abbas's commitment to fighting terror has been impressive, as well as the fact that Israel helped the Palestinians have an election, and worked to ensure that people could get to the polls.

There is more work to be done, and President Bush looks forward to working with both sides.