As I prepare to travel to the Middle East early next month, I thank you for sharing that vision. Once again, you have inspired me. Across the region, this is a hope-filled time. Arabs and Israelis have new opportunities to engage for peace, and there is good reason to believe that those opportunities will not be missed. The road ahead will not be easy.
All sides have hard issues to confront and difficult choices to make.
Israelis and Palestinians are now sorting out the best ways to implement the Wye Accords. It's also important that they begin discussing, soon, the difficult issues of a permanent status agreement. On my trip, I'm going to be looking for ways to help the sides make progress in all these areas. While we are on the subject of your future careers, I hope that some of you will actually choose diplomacy. I especially hope that Tariq from Morocco, who I understand can name every capital of every country in the world, will consider a diplomatic career.