U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
Wednesday, August 2, 2000


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QUESTION: On the Middle East, what do you have on the location  of the US Embassy in Israel? Barak made another statement about  that.

MR. REEKER: Well, I think as you know, on Friday the President said he is taking under review before the end of the year the decision on moving the Embassy, and I am not going to add anything further to that. I don't have anything else to say beyond what the President said on Friday.

QUESTION: Well, Barak seemed to imply that there was a decision that it would be done; there was some kind of an agreement or some kind of a signal to him that there would be a movement, it would be moved to Jerusalem at the end of the Administration.

MR. REEKER: Well, again, if you look at what the President said, I think he said only that he would review the issue and make a decision by the end of the year. He said nothing more than that, and that's all I'm saying.

QUESTION: So you're saying there's no decision?

MR. REEKER: I'm saying exactly that; that the President said he has taken under review before the end of the year the decision on moving the Embassy, and I have nothing additional to add.

QUESTION: Do you have any comment on the resignation of Mr. Levy? I expect you don't, but I'll try anyway.

MR. REEKER: We can just sort of leave it at that. Actually, you're probably very correct on it. I'm not going to, as we
never do, comment on developments in domestic Israeli politics. I think in response to what the next questions are likely to be
regarding developments in Israel, it's just important to keep in mind that Prime Minister Barak remains committed to achieving an agreement with the Palestinians and he recognizes that there is an historic opportunity here that must not be lost.As President Clinton has said, Prime Minister Barak has taken many bold and courageous steps in this area and we're going to continue to support him as he tackles the very difficult issues before him. And we've said many times before these decisions are extremely difficult; they're for the parties and only for the parties to make the decisions. We stand ready to help them in any way we can, but obviously those are decisions that the parties themselves are going to have to make.

QUESTION: Does it complicate in any way your efforts to reach an agreement on Jerusalem?

MR. REEKER: I think we remain very much committed to supporting the parties in their efforts however we can. I don't really have anything further to add.

QUESTION: A related question? How is Ned Walker's mission going?

MR. REEKER: Ned Walker is --

QUESTION: He's in Saudi Arabia today. He saw somebody.

MR. REEKER: He was in Saudi Arabia today. He has departed. I believe he is now in Jordan. Let me see if I can find that.
Yes, as you know, he's traveling in the region to brief Arab countries on the developments at Camp David. He was in Saudi Arabia yesterday, traveled to Jordan today, and is expected to arrive in Syria either this evening or early tomorrow.

QUESTION: Okay. Can you tell us what the Saudis told him? Did they say --

MR. REEKER: I don't have readouts of his meetings. He's been doing some press along the way and we'll leave it for him for that. But as with the earlier stops, I'm not going to have detailed readouts of his conversations. He's briefing our friends in the region and telling them about the developments at Camp David.

QUESTION: When is he back here?

MR. REEKER: I don't have an exact time for his return. It's a lengthy trip that includes travel beyond Jordan and Syria, to Lebanon, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Yemen, Oman, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Not to leave anybody out.

QUESTION: Are you done with the Middle East?

MR. REEKER: Any more on the Middle East?

QUESTION: The Knesset is in recess until October. Does it mean that the US will be pushing for a new round of negotiations until in the next -- within the next three months as a kind of a window of opportunity?

MR. REEKER: Well, obviously, as I just said, there is sort of an historic opportunity at hand. These are difficult issues that have to be pursued and for the parties to solve. I don't have anything to add in terms of our actions other than to say that we stand ready to help in every way that we can in terms of moving the process ahead.

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QUESTION: The Secretary has just come back, so obviously -- and she's had a hard trip -- but is there any thought being given to her going to the Middle East to talk to allies after Ned Walker goes?

MR. REEKER: I'm not aware of any plans for the Secretary to travel to the Middle East.