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JUDY WOODRUFF: Today, Ambassador 
John Bolton gave his first 
official speech as President

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Trump's national 
security adviser.

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Bolton spoke to the Federalist 
Society, the conservative 
and libertarian organization.

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And he took aim at the 
International Criminal Court.

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But Bolton also 
targeted the Palestine 
Liberation Organization.

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And he announced the closure 
the PLO's office in Washington.

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Our foreign affairs 
correspondent, Nick 
Schifrin, was in the room.

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And he joins us now.

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So, Nick, why are they 
closing the PLO office?

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NICK SCHIFRIN: The main reason 
that Ambassador Bolton and the 
State Department said today

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was Palestinians' use 
of the International 
Criminal Court, the ICC.

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The ICC is based in The 
Hague and is designed to 
tackle some of humanity's 
toughest challenges,

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war crimes, crimes 
against humanity.

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The Palestinians have said 
that they would go to the ICC 
over Israeli settlements in

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the West Bank, over seizure 
of Israeli property, 
over what Palestinian 
officials call Israelis'

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use of force inside 
of the West Bank.

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That's number one.

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Number two reason why 
the U.S. says that it's 
closing the PLO office here 
is that the Palestinians

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aren't being helpful 
when it comes to peace 
talks and peace efforts.

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Jason Greenblatt and Jared 
Kushner, the two advisers to 
President Trump who are creating

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a peace plan, the Palestinians 
have refused to meet them since 
the U.S. moved the embassy

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from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem 
a few months ago.

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And they have also been 
disparaging some of the 
work that the two of 
them have done, even

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though that work isn't done.

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And so what you heard Bolton 
say today is that, one, the 
ICC, the International Criminal

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Court, shouldn't be 
investigating what he 
called Israeli housing 
projects, not settlements,

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and, two, that the -- that the 
office here in Washington had 
blocked efforts toward peace.

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JOHN BOLTON, U.S. National 
Security Adviser: The Trump 
administration will not keep the

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office open when the 
Palestinians refuse 
to take steps to start 
direct and meaningful

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negotiations with Israel.

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The United States supports a 
direct and robust peace process.

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And we will not allow the ICC 
or any other organization to 
constrain Israel's right to

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self-defense.

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NICK SCHIFRIN: I talked to 
Ambassador Husam Zomlot, the 
ambassador to the U.S. for the

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Palestinians.

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He said: Look, this is not 
going to change our behavior.

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We are going to take 
the Israelis to the ICC.

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And we're going to continue 
not to help Jared Kushner and 
Jason Greenblatt's peace effort.

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And he later released 
a statement, saying: 
"We stand firm in our 
decision not to cooperate

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in this ongoing campaign to 
liquidate our rights and cause.

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Our rights or not for sale.

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We will block any attempts at 
booing and blackmailing us."

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JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Nick, this 
reveals not just frustration 
about what's going on right

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now, but longstanding 
frustrations with 
the Palestinians.

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NICK SCHIFRIN: Longstanding 
frustrations and real 
frustrations with the 
Trump administration

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over the last few months, one, 
the move of the embassy from 
Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and

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President Trump saying, well, 
we took Jerusalem off the table.

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Palestinians, of course, want 
Jerusalem, East Jerusalem 
as a future capital.

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Number two, $200 million in 
humanitarian aid being canceled 
by the U.S. administration

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that went to things like 
hospitals in East Jerusalem 
that provided cancer treatment,

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for example.

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The Palestinian Authority can't 
provide that treatment, and 
those hospitals have lost that

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money.

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And, number three, $300 million 
for UNRWA, the U.N. agency that 
helps Palestinian refugees,

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again, providing schools, 
health care, things that no one 
else in the West Bank or Gaza

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can provide.

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Now, U.S. and Israel say that 
those UNRWA schools, those 
U.N. schools, were being used

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by Hamas to house rockets, and 
also that that organization was 
kind of skewing the definition

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of a refugee.

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In the past, the U.S. has 
provided aid and separately 
hoped for a political solution.

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Palestinians believe that this 
is the U.S. taking away aid 
to blackmail them and force

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them toward a 
political solution.

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JUDY WOODRUFF: So where 
does this negotiation stand?

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We haven't seen any 
peace plan, have we?

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NICK SCHIFRIN: We have 
not seen any peace plan.

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U.S. officials are hoping 
to release something 
by the end of the year.

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And they describe a 
different approach.

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Rather than a blueprint for 
talks, negotiation between two 
sides, they really are going to

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release a robust, 
significant long peace plan.

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And a lot of it has to do 
with economic incentives 
for the Palestinians, 
rather necessarily than

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answering every 
Palestinian grievance.

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JUDY WOODRUFF: So you were 
saying that Bolton spent 
most of his time talking 
about the International

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Criminal Court, the ICC.

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What is this -- 
what's behind this?

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NICK SCHIFRIN: This is part 
of John Bolton's world view.

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It really is, that states are 
the most important body in the 
international arena, and states

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should never give up 
any sovereignty ever, 
especially to any kind of 
international organization.

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And the way to have influence in 
the world is not through allies.

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It's not through alliances.

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It's not through influence 
and multilateral institutions, 
but, as he put it today, power.

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JOHN BOLTON: The hard men of 
history or not deterred by 
fantasies of international law,

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such as the ICC.

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Time and again, history has 
proven that the only deterrent 
to evil and atrocity is what

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Franklin Roosevelt once called 
the righteous might of the 
United States and its allies.

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JUDY WOODRUFF: 
That's pretty direct.

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So how does that 
play out in policy?

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NICK SCHIFRIN: It hasn't 
changed policy dramatically yet.

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But we are seeing Bolton's 
ideology play out across the 
administration's foreign policy

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priorities, threatening 
the use of force against 
Syrian President Assad 
and his ally Russia

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if there's another chemical 
weapons attack inside of Syria, 
threatening European countries,

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European allies, if they 
try and help Iran, basically 
calling their bluff, saying that

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they don't have the military, 
economic or political way to 
convince Iran to stay inside

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the nuclear deal.

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And in North Korea.

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North Korea needs to give up all 
of its nuclear weapons before 
the U.S. gives in very much.

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That is Bolton's philosophy.

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North Korea and, frankly, 
South Korean officials say: 
That's not how it should work.

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We will take steps 
if you take steps.

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That's what the Koreans say.

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That's not a philosophy 
that John Bolton adheres to.

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JUDY WOODRUFF: Nick 
Schifrin, we thank you.

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NICK SCHIFRIN: Thank you.