Following are remarks by President Bush on December 2 before meeting with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel:

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary

December 2, 2001 Remarks by the President Upon Return From Camp David
The South Grounds

The President: In a couple of minutes I'll have the honor of receiving the Prime Minister from Israel. We obviously changed our schedule because of the horrific acts of murder that took place in his land.

I will tell him that I strongly condemn the acts of murder that killed innocent people in Israel. I will tell him our nation grieves for those whose lives have been affected by the murderers.

This is a moment where the advocates for peace in the Middle East must rise up and fight terror. Chairman Arafat must do everything in his power to find those who murdered innocent Israelis and bring them to justice.

Clearly, there are some in the world who do not want us to achieve peace in the Middle East. Clearly, there are some that, every chance they have, they will use violence and terror to disrupt any progress that's being made. We must not allow them to succeed. We must not allow terror to destroy the chance of peace in the Middle East.

Now is the time for leaders throughout the world who urge there to be a peace to do something about the terror that prevents peace from happening in the first place.

May God bless the Israeli citizens who lost their lives, and their families. Thank you.

(end transcript)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)