with israel him and we do condemn those who have not. second, we do acknowledge there is of course a legitimate right of self-defense for everybody. this of course includes israel, but includes the palestinians as well. and let me be clear, the killing of civilians, children, women and men and the elderly and the destroying of humanitarian procedures has another name, which is war crime and should not go without impunity. third, i would like to briefly sank -- thank the egyptian efforts in order to reach the cease-fire. thank god we have a to 72 hours. we are on the 30 something work and hope it will hold. it is holding so far. we hope it will be extended. we have delegations from interested parties in cairo,

including the united states and others. and we will spare no effort in order to have a sustainable cease-fire and to address the whole situation in order to prevent this from happening and ensure security. we are focusing now on opening for all sides. we are focusing now on opening the crossings, lifting the blockade and addressing security concerns and let me the clear the occupying power is the one responsible for the blockade. we are talking about opening of the crossings. this is the main way in which the palestinian territory should breathe fresh air. finally, we have listened to the message loud and clear. the situation is not sustainable here get we cannot go back empty.

the solution is simple. when there will be no condition, there will be no violence. we welcome israeli talks, but this is not enough. we should focus on reconstruction, compensation and accountability. again, the general assembly would need to bear responsibility and take action if need be. so far, let us hope the stock -- the peace talks succeed and will open the door for more sustainable resolution of the conflict in order to review the peace talks between palestine -- to resume the peace talks between palestine and israel in order to create two states side-by-side living in peace in the middle east. thank you very much. >> i think -- thank the distinguished representative from egypt for his statement.

now i will give it to indonesia followed by brazil. you have the floor. >> mr. president, let me begin by commending you for convening this important meeting. i would also like to thank the general for comprehensive briefings. thank you as well for being here with us. my delegation associates itself with the statements we have heard that the distinguished representative of saudi arabia and islamic republic of iran. on behalf of the oic. mr. president, indonesia is deeply shocked by the military tragedy indiscriminate killings and disproportionate use of force by israel come up but we are also deeply appalled at the

fact that the brutal and inhumane assault by israel could take place for almost a month without proper response by the united nations. in that regard, indonesia is calling upon the united nations to uphold its responsibilities. toward international peace and security. mr. president, the recent development in gaza, we would like to highlight several key actions. first, and the cycle of violence. clearly a cease-fire must be durable and comprehensive to prevent violence from re-creating. -- reoccurring. in this regard, indonesia calls on all parties to refrain from action that may jeopardize the already volatile situation.

indonesia supports the establishment them implementation of cease-fire. of a directional team to implement the cease-fire. the blockade for gaza must also be lifted to make sure the operation can have access to essential needs such as food, medicine and energy. second, humanitarian belief. -- relief. indonesia calls on the committee to immediately provide and deliver humanitarian aid for the people of gaza. we must also prepare ourselves to help palestine with the construction and economic help the country needs. lastly, the international community must demand this through relative economic mechanisms in support the mandate of the commission of the quality.

-- the commission of inquiry embraced by the human rights council. and to prevent it from taking place in the future, indonesia calls on the u.n. to respond to the palestinian demand for international perfection. we talk complete progress in ending this and a viable peace assess, danger will always -- peace process, danger will always persist. the status quo is unsustainable for all sides. and every effort must be accepted to the fullest to help obtain a lasting peace. a piece based on inalienable rights of the people statehood in dignity. i think you, mr. president. -- i thank you mr. president. >> i thank the distinguished representative of indonesia. at this time i get the floor to -- i give the floor to brazil followed by canada.

brazil, you have the floor. >> mr. president, i thank you for convening this timely meeting. i would also like to say thank you for the bayou bowl although -- deeply worrying information shared with us. the level of pilot in the past -- of violence in the past month in the gaza strip that has taken almost 2000 lives come at the vast majority of which is simply unacceptable and profoundly saddens us. this particular waste -- situation is particularly disturbing because not only was the senses lost love -- senseless loss of life or in palestine and israel bowl preventable but also the continuation of hostilities will only distance the parties even further from unnecessary lasting case. the briefings we heard here

cannot but shocked our elected -- are collected human conscience. behind tragic statistics are real human beings. some gravely affected for the third time in a short span and whose lives are not less worthy than ours. as we stated recently in the security council, peace in the middle east is so fundamental and the states -- stakes are so high that the international community cannot allow the future of israelis and palace -- palestinians and consequently that of the whole region to be dated attention, recurring violence in periodic worst of deadly conflict. -- and periodic bursts of deadly conflict. we simply can no longer accept this pattern of events in palestine and israel. brazil wishes for israel the same it wishes for itself, to live in peace in a stable environment. this will certainly not be achieved by the use of the proportionate force. -- of disproportionate force such as the one employed in operation protective edge with the ensuing death of hundreds of

civilians including hundreds of women and children between firmly condemn. at the same time, the firing of rockets and mortars from gaza into israel and the placement of weapons has reaped -- as reported by the secretary general deserves are unambiguous condemnation. mr. president, the defense distraction of homes, hospitals and essential infrastructure and above all, the shelling of schools and other u.n. shelters are growth violations of -- are gross violations of international humanitarian law as recalled by the secretary general in recent statements. he also said the united nations shelters must be safe stones, not combat zones. -- save zones, not combat zones. all violations must be investigated and perpetrators must be held accountable.

for this reason, brazil supported the of sabra smith of -- the establishment of an international commission of inquiry within the real of the human rights council to investigate all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law and the occupied palestinian territory. brazil also joined the secretary general and condemning any kind of racism or prejudice, including any anti-semitic attacks or demonstrations wherever they take place and whatever -- under whatever pretext. hatred and discrimination will never lead to peace. mr. president, the humanitarian situation in gaza was a matter of serious concern much before the conflict. as a result of the blockade. it is even more dramatic now as more than 450 thousand palestinians have been displaced from their homes. returning to the status quo is no solution.

we further reiterate our call upon israel to lift the blockade. we welcome the cease-fire and israeli withdrawal from gaza as a necessary first step. we urge all parties to strictly breast that -- respect the cease-fire in seriously engage in continuing efforts to achieve a permanent and complete cessation of hostilities. the vicious circle of violence must end. this are president, the -- mr. president, the international community must not continue to passively stand by while the root causes of the conflict remain in place. brazil reiterates the call for the security council to end its self-imposed distance. to fully carry out its responsibilities under the u.n. charter and actively support the peace process. resuming peace negotiations is urgent and necessary. it is abundantly clear only the implementation of a two state

solution will bring durable peach insecurity -- durable peace and security palestine. thank you. -- to israel and palestine. thank you. brazil remains committed to a peaceful solution to the israeli-palestinian conflict and ready to support and contribute to all international efforts to that end. thank you. >> i thank the distinguished representative from brazil and will now give the floor to canada, followed by argentina. canada, you have the floor. >> thank you very much, mr. president. i would like to thank you for giving me the floor and the important meeting of the general assembly. canada welcomes the 72 hour cease-fire brokered by egypt which has given the people of gaza and israel respite from the terrible conflict with devastating humanitarian consequences. as part of the ongoing assistance to the west bank and gaza, canada has provided palestinians with 30 million dollars in humanitarian funding

for 2014 and assessing how best to support palestinian the aims of hamas. -- victims of hamas. mr. president, canada is saddened by and mourns the loss of life on both sides. and condemns the right to put both sides in mortal danger, including by storing rockets in schools. we welcome the general direction to immediately the plate personnel to deal with the -- deploy personnel with the expertise to deal with this situation. canada strongly condemns the use of u.n. facilities and other civilian sites as cover for military action, putting the lives of palestinian children at the liberal risk. -- at deliberate risk. mr. president, the responsibility for death and destruction we have seen in recent weeks our soul -- are attributable solely to hamas.

israel has the right to defend itself in using its own means from deliberate attacks, the attacks of which it has been a target in recent years. mr. president, the international community still has an opportunity to unite in its efforts to assist the israeli people and palestinian people to move forward and achieve peace and security. we recognize that in order to establish peace there needs to be trust. there can be no trust as long as the tunnels built by hamas for transportation of arms and other materials exists. an organization such as hamas, as long as it continues to be able to operate, will not allow for peace or security.

the acceptance of nonviolence for hamas is a prerequisite for accepting peace and establishing true security for all palestinians and all israel ease. canada therefore support the call for developed or is it an of gaza, this disarmament of the militia and placement of control of gaza under palestinian authority security apparatus as part of reconstruction efforts. we believe the real path to peace lies in the immediate resumption of direct negotiations between israel and the palestinians, leading to the establishment of a palestinian state, living peacefully side-by-side with israel and canada urges both sides to return to the negotiations immediately. i thank you, mr. president. >> i thank the distinguished

on the next "washington journal discussed the israeli-palestinian conflict and the look at the competition between states to attract investment and jobs. " begins liveournal at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. book tv this weekend -- saturday at 10 p.m. afterwards -- woodward. on the watergate scandal and sunday afternoon at 5:00, the president and ceo of the new york public library. television for serious readers.

friday night on c-span, coverage of this year's western conservative summit with remarks by senator tim scott. and many other prominent conservatives. here is a preview of the comments of ralph reed. >> the middle east, the bloodiest and most dangerous and most unstable region and the tripolis in flames from across the horn of africa all the way to the mediterranean in syria, bloodthirsty despot dictator that this president drew a redline and said if he crossed it, he would pay and then retreated at the behest of vladimir putin -- that dictator 160,000 of his

own innocent civilians. while this keep our administration sat in the cheap seats and watched it happen. catholic priests and evangelical ministers have been beheaded by al qaeda terrorists seeking to overthrow that administration. in egypt, the muslim brotherhood and immediately began to destabilize the sinai peninsula turning it into the wild west and it has now been replaced by a military regime. qaedaq, isis, al affiliate, presides over a radical muslim caliphate that stretches from the syrian border to the outskirts of baghdad and, by the way, over 60,000 the lasts in iraq, remaining christians left in that country, have literally had to flee for their lives. mockinge terrorists are

the entire free world and essentially spitting on the graves of americans who gave their lives to liberate that country and this administration could not do anything other than send 300 military advisers. -- thecan watch the west rest of his remarks in part of our coverage of the western conservative summit friday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span. at the close of this week's u.s.-africa summit, president obama held a news conference where he discussed u.s. relations with africa. this is 40 minutes. >> please be seated. as i think everyone knows by now, this first u.s.-africa leaders summit has been the largest gathering we've hosted with african heads of state and government.

i want to begin by thinking the people in washington, d.c. for -- thanking the people of washington, d.c. for helping us host this historic event and especially for their patience with the traffic. as i've said, this summit reflects the reality that even as africa continues to face great challenges, we're also seeing the emergence of a new, more prosperous africa. africa's progress is being led by africans, including leaders here today. i want to take this opportunity again to thank my fellow leaders for being here. rather than prepared speeches, our sessions today were genuine discussions. a chance to truly listen and try to come together around some pragmatic steps that we can take together and that's what we've done this week. first, we made important progress in expanding our trade. the $33 billion in new trade and investments i announced yesterday will help spur african development and support tens of thousands of american jobs.

we tripled our goal and now aim to bring electricity to 60 million african homes and businesses, and today i reiterated that we'll continue to work with congress to assure a seamless and long-term renewal of the growth and opportunity act. we agreed that africa's growth depends first and foremost on continued growth in africa by africans. the leaders here plan to pursue efforts that reduce barriers that stifle trade and promote regional integration. the united states will increase our support to help build africa's capacity to trade with itself and with the world. ultimately africa's prosperity depends on its greatest resource, its people. i've been encouraged by the leaders to partner with us to support entrepreneurs.

i think there's an increasing recognition that if countries are going to reach their full economic potential then they have to invest in women, their education and skills and protect them from gender-based violence. that was the topic this afternoon. in week the united states -- in this week, the united states announced a range of initiatives to empower women across africa. our new alliance for food security and nutrition continues to grow, to lift 50 million aiming to lift 50 million africans from poverty and our fight against h.i.v. aids will work with 10 countries to help double the number of people on viral drugs. as we do ploy our first responders to west african to help control the ebola your, we're pursuing the african centers for disease control. the american people are renewing

their commitment to africa. today, interaction, the leading alliance of american n.g.o.'s is announcing its members will invest $4 billion over the next four years to promote maternal health, children's health and the delivery of vaccine and drugs. this is an effort that's spurred on by the private sector. combined with the investment he announced yesterday, this summit has helped to mobilize some $37 billion for africa's progress on top of the substantial efforts that have been made in the past. second, we addressed good governance, which is a foundation of economic growth in free societies. some african nations are making impressive progress but we see troubling restrictions on universal rights.

today was an opportunity to highlight the importance of rule of law, strong civil societies and protection of human rights for all citizens and all communities and i made the point during our discussion that nations that uphold these rights and principles will ultimately be more prosperous and economically successful. we agreed to step up our collective efforts against the corruption that cost africa's economies 10s of billions every year, money that ought to be invested in the people of africa. several leaders raised the idea of a new partnership and we decided to convene our experts to develop an action plan to promote the transparency essential to economic growth. third, we're deepening our security to meet human trafficking. we're initiating a new initiative to help african countries to provide for their own security.

we're starting with kenya, nigeria, ghana and tunisia. during our discussions our west african partners made it clear they want to increase their capacity to respond to cry says the u.s. will promote an early warning and response network and increase their ability to share information about emerging crises. we agreed to make investments in african peace keeping. the united states will provide additional equipment and we will support the african union's efforts to strengthen its peace-keeping institutions and we're launching a new peace keeping rapid response projects with the goal of keeping them in support of a.u. missions. we'll join with countries that have demonstrated a track record as peacekeepers.

ghana, tanzania, ethiopia and uganda. we're going to invite countries beyond africa to join us in this effort because the entire world has a stake in peace keeping in africa. in closing, i want to say this has been an extraordinary event, an extraordinary summit. given the success we've had this week, we greed that summits like this can be a critical part of our work together going forward. so we agreed that the u.s.-africa leaders summit will be a recurring event, to hold ourselves accountable for our commitments and to sustain our momentum. i strongly urge my successor to carry on this work so africa will know it will always have a strong partner in the united states. with that, i'll take questions.

>> there have been a lot of discussions surrounding this summit about the ebola outbreak in west africa. there is a new drug available. is your administration interesting considering sending the drug if it becomes available and can you discuss the ethics of providing an untested drug to another country and not to americans if it could possibly save lives. >> i think we have to let the science guys and i don't think -- guide us and i don't think all the information is in on whether this drug is helpful. what we do know is that the ebola virus, both currently and in the past, is controllable if you have a strong public health infrastructure in place, and the countries that have been affected are the first to admit that what's happened here is

that their public health systems have been overwhelmed. they weren't able to identify and then isolate cases quickly enough. you did not have a strong trust relationship between some of the communities that were affected and public health workers. as a consequence, it spread more rapidly than has been typical with the periodic ebola outbreaks that occurred previously. but despite, obviously, the extraordinary pain and hardship of the families and persons who have been affected, and despite the fact that we have to take this very seriously, it is important to remind ourselves this is not an airborne disease. this is one that can be controlled and contained very effectively if we use the right protocols. so what we've done is make sure we're surging, not just u.s.

resources but we've reached outs to european countries and partners from other countries -- once again all the health workers we need on the ground to help to bolster the systems already in place. let's nip as early as possible any additional outbreaks of the disease and then, during the course of that process, i think it's entirely appropriate for us to see if there are additional drugs or medical treatments that can improve the survivability of what is a very deadly and obviously brutal disease. so we're going to -- we're focusing on the public health approach right now because we know how to do that but i will continue to seek information about what we're learning with respect to these drugs going forward.

>> would you support fast tracking of approval in the united states? >> i think it's premature for me to say that because i don't have enough data right now to offer an opinion on that. john, abc news. >> thank you, mr. president. when you were running for president you said "the biggest challenges we're facing is george bush trying to bring more and more power through the executive branch and not go through congress." has congress tried to do anything to give you a green light to push the limits of executive power or to put it another way, does it bother you more to be accused of being an imperial president or a do-nothing president who couldn't get anything done because he faced a dysfunctional congress? >> well, i think that i never have a green light.

i'm bound by the constitution and by separation of powers. there are some things we can't do. i would love to fund a large infrastructure proposal right now that would put millions of people to work and boost our g.d.p. we know we've got roads and bridges and airports and electrical grids that need to be rebuilt but without the cooperation of congress, what i can do is speed up permitting process, for example. i can make sure we're working with the private sector to see if we can channel investment into much-needed projects but ultimately congress has to pass a budget and authorize spending. so i don't have a green light. what i am consistently going to do is, wherever i have the legal authorities to make progress on

behalf of middle have-class americans and folks working to get into the middle class, whether it's by making sure that contractors are paying a fair wage to their works, whether it's women getting an opportunity for being paid the same wage as men who do the same job. where i have an opportunity to expand some of the student loan programs we've already put in place so repayments are a little more affordable for college graduates, i'm going to seize those opportunities and that's what i think the american people expect me to do. my preference in these instances is to work with congress because not only can congress do more but it's growing to be longer lasting. -- it's going to be longer lasting. when you look at, for example,

commercial inaction and in action and,onal in in particular, in action on immigration reform, here's an area where, as i've said before, not only the american people want to see action. not only is there 80% overlap between what republicans and democrats say they want. we actually passed a bill out of the senate that was bipartisan. and in those circumstances, what the american people expect is that despite the difference is between the parties there should at least be the capacity to move forward on things we agree on and that's not what we're seeing right now. so in the face of that kind of dysfunction. what i can do is scour all authorities to try to make progress and we're going to make sure that every time we take one of these steps that we are working within the confines of

my consecutive power but i promise you the american people don't want me just standing around, twiddling my thumbs and waiting for congress to get something done. even as we take these actions i'm going to continue to reach out to democrats and republicans, to the speaker to the leadership on both sides and in both chambers to try to come up with formulas where we can make progress. >> do you believe you have the power to grant work permits who are here illegally, as some of your supporters have suggested? >> what i certainly recognize with respect to immigration reform, and i've said this in the past, is that we have a broken system. it's under resourced and we have to make choices in terms of how we allocate personnel and resources. if i'm going to send more immigration judges down not

border to process some of these unaccompanied children that have arrived at the border, that's coming from somewhere else. my preference would be an actual comprehensive immigration law. we already have a bipartisan law that would solve a whole bunch of these problems. until that happens, i'm going to have to make choices. that's what i have elected to do. margaret. bloomberg. >> thank you, mr. president. jack lew has previously said the executive branch of government doesn't have the right to -- but -- the authority to stop slow and corporate inversions. -- but now he is reviewing options to do so, an issue that a lot of businesses, including

some of the ones paying attention to this summit, are interested in. what prompted this apparent reversal, what actions are now under consideration? will you consider an executive order that would limit or ban such companies from getting federal contracts and how soon would you like to see treasure -- treasury act given congress's schedule? >> just to review why we're concerned here. you have accountants going to some big corporations. multinational corporations that are clearly u.s. based and have the bulk of their operations in the united states, and these accounts are saying you know what, we found a great loophole. if you just flip your citizenship to another country, even though it's just a paper transaction, we think we can get you out of paying a whole bunch of taxes. well, it's not fair, it's not right.

the lost revenue to treasury means it's got to be made up somewhere and that typically is going to be a bunch of hard-working americans who either pay through higher taxes themselves or through reduced services, and in the meantime, the company is still using all the services and all the benefits of effectively being a u.s. cooperation. -- corporation. they just decided that they would go through this paper exercise. so there is legislation working its way through congress that would eliminate some of these tax loopholes entirely and it's true what treasury secretary lew previously said, that we can't solve the entire problem administratively but we are examining are there elements to how existing statutes are interpreted by rule or by

regulation or tradition or practice that can at least discourage some of the folks who may be trying to take advantage of this loophole. and i think it's something that would really bother the aver -- the average american, the idea that somebody renounces their citizenship but continues to entirely benefit from operating in the united states of america just to avoid paying a whole bunch of taxes. we're reviewing all of our options, as usual, and related to the answer i gave jonathan about excessive actions, my preference would always be for us to go ahead and get something done in congress and keep in mind it's still a small number of companies that are resorting to this. i think most american companies are proud to be american, recognize the benefits of being american and are responsible actors and willing to pay their

fair share of taxes to support all the benefits they receive from being here. but, you know, we don't want to see this trend grow. we don't want companies who have up until now been playing by the rules suddenly looking over anywhere shoulder and saying what some of our competitors are gaming the system and we need to do it too. that kind of hurt mentality is something we want to avoid. so we want to move as quickly as possible. >> the federal contracting area has worked well for you on issues like promoting gay rights or contraception policy. is it fair to say that's the first thing contractors would think of? >> margaret, i'm not going to announce specifics. we've done a thorough evaluation and when we understand what our authorities

>> i'll let you know. chris, nbc news. >> thank you, mr. president. russia said today it is going to ban good and agriculture imports. -- food and agricultural product imports -- that was about $1.3 billion last year. chuck hagel said that the massing of troops along the border of ukraine increases the likelihood of an invasion. are sanctions not working? >> well, we don't know yet whether sanctions are working. they're working as intended in putting enormous pressure and strain on the russian economy. that's not my estimation. if you look at the markets and you look at estimates in terms of capital flight. if you look at projections for russian growth, what you're seeing is that the economy has ground to a halt. somewhere between $100 billion and $200 billion of capital flight is coming in.

not seeing new businesses inside of russia and it has presented the choice to president putin as to whether he is going to try to resolve the issues in eastern ukraine to diplomacy and peaceful means, recognizing the ukraine is a sovereign country and that it is up, ultimately, to the ukrainian people to make decisions about their own lives, or alternatively continue on the course he's on in which case he's going to be hurting his economy and hurting his own people over the long term and in that sense we are doing exact hi -- exactly what we should be doing and we're very pleased that our european allies and

partners joined us in this process as well as a number of countries around the world. having said all that, the issue is not resolved yet. you still have fighting in eastern ukraine. civilians are still dying. we've already seen some of the consequences of this conflict in the loss of the malaysian airline, or jetliner. and the sooner we can get back on a track in which there are serious discussions taking place to ensure that all ukrainians are heard, that they can work through the political process, that they're represented, that the reforms that have already been offered by the government in kiev are implemented to protect russian speakers to assure decentralization of power. the sooner we move on those and the sooner that president putin

recognizing that ukraine is an independent country, it's only at that point where we can say the problem has truly been solved. >> the troops that are massing on the border are more highly trained and seem to have more sophisticated weaponry, according to intelligence. does that make you reconsider providing lethal aid to ukraine given those troop movements? >> keep in mind that the russian army is a lot bigger than the ukrainian army. so the issue here is not whether the ukrainian army has some additional weaponry. at least up until this point, they've been fighting a group of separatists who have engaged in some terrible violence but who can't match the ukrainian army.

now, if you start seeing an invasion by russia, that's obviously obviously a different set of questions. we're not there yet. what we've been doing is providing a whole host of assistance packages to the ukrainian government and to their military and we will continue to work with them to evaluate on a day-by-day, week-by-week basis what exactly they need in order to be able to defend their country and to deal with the separatist elements that currently are being armed by russia. but the best thing we can do for ukraine is to try to get back on a political track. david, "the standard." >> thank you, mr. president. you've been hosting african kings, leaders, and prime

ministers and presidents for the last three days. back home in africa, life is becoming increasingly difficult. in egypt -- in ethiopia, dozens of journalists are in prison. in kenya they have passed very bad laws against the media. what can the international community do to ensure that we have a strong media in africa and to secure the release of the journalists who are behind bars. and two, so many countries in africa are facing threats of terror. you mentioned a few measures you're going to take but what can the international community do to neutralize terror threats in mali, cameroon, nigeria, kenya. thank you. >> i'm sorry, what was the last

part of the question? >> could the terror threats be the reason you have \[indiscernible] kenya? >> oh, no, no, no. -- that you have skipped kenya ? >> oh, no, no, no. first of all, with respect to journalists in the media. the last session that we had on good governance emphasized that good governance means everybody has a voice, that government is transparent and thereby accountable and even though leaders don't always like it, the media plays a crucial role in assuring people that they have the proper information to evaluate the policies that their leaders are pursuing. and so we have been very consistent in pushing governments not just in africa but around the world to respect the right of journalists to practice their trade, as a

critical part of society and a critical part of any democratic norm. the specific issue of the al-jazeera journalists in egypt, we've been clear both publicly and privately that they should be released. and we have been troubled by some of the laws that have been passed around the world that seem to restrict the ability of journalists to pursue stories or write stories. we've also been disturbed by efforts to control the internet. part of what's happened over the last decade or two is that new media, new technology, allow people to get information that previously would have never been accessible or only to a few specialists and now people can punch some -- something up on the internet and pull up

information that's relevant to their own lives and their own societies and communities so we're going to continue to push back against these efforts. as is true on a whole range of issues. and i've said this in the past -- you know, many times we will work with countries even though they're not perfect on every issue. and we find that in some cases engaging a country that generally is a good partner but is not performing optimally when it comes to all the various categories of human rights that we can be effective by working with them on -- and criticizing them and trying to elicit improvements in other areas. and even among countries that generally have strong human

rights records, there are areas where there are problems. that's true of the united states, by the way. and so, the good news -- and we heard this in the summit -- is that more and more countries are recognizing that in the absence of good governance. in the absence of accountability and transparency, that's not only going to have an effect domestically on the legitimacy of a government, it's going to have an effect on economic development and growth. because ultimately, in an information age, open societies have the capacity to innovate and educate and move faster and be part of the global marketplace more than closed societies do over the long term.

i believe that. with respect to terrorism, i think there's uniform concern of terrorist infiltration in many countries throughout africa. obviously there's a concern that we have globally. a lot of the initiatives we put forward were designed to partner to that countries first and foremost can deal with these problems within their own borders or regionally. and the united states doesn't have a desire to expand and create a big footprint inside of africa. what we do want to make sure we can do is partner with the african union, with individual unions -- countries to build up their capacity and one of the encouraging things in the sessions was a recognition that fighting terrorism also requires security forces that are professional, that are

disciplined, that themselves are not engaging in human rights violations, that part of the lesson that we've all learned about terrorism is that, you know, it is possible in reaction to terrorism to actually accelerate the disease. if the response is one that alienates populations or particular ethnic groups or particular religions. so the work that we're doing, including the security initiatives that i announced today i think can make a big difference in that direction. it's not just a matter of us providing better equipment and better training. that's a part of it but part of it is also making sure that these security forces and the intelligence operations are coordinated and professional and they're not alienating populations. the more we do that the more effective we can be.

the last points i'll make is on good governance, one of the best inoculators against infiltration is a society in which everyone everybody feels they have a steak in the existing order and they feel their grievances can be resolved through political means rather than through violence. that's just another reason why good governance has to be part to the recipe that we use for a strong, stable, and pros effort. last question, jerome. >> thank you, mr. president. israeli prime minister said the operation was justified and proportionate. do you agree and are you hopeful the cease-fire can be achieved and what exact role can the u.s. play in the current talks going on? >> i've said from the beginning that no country would tolerate rockets being launched into

their cities. and as a consequence, i have consistently supported israel's right to defend itself, and that includes doing what it needs to do to prevent rockets from landing on population centers and, more recently, as we learned, preventing tunnels from being dug under their territory that can be used to launch terrorist attacks. i also think it is important to remember that hamas acts extraordinarily irresponsibly when it is deliberately firing rocket launchers in population centers. you're putting populations at risk because of that particular military strategy. now, having said all that, i've

also expressed my distress as what's happened to innocent civilians, including women and children, during the course of this process and i'm very glad that we have, at least temporarily, achieved a cease-fire. the question is how do we move forward in a sustainable way. we intend to support the process that's taken place in egypt. i think the short-term goal resident to be to make sure that -- has to be to make sure that rocket launches do not resume, that the work that the israeli government did in closing off these tunnels has been completed, and that we are now in the process of helping to rebuild a gaza that's been really badly damaged as a consequence of this conflict.

long term, there has to be a recognition that gaza cannot sustain itself permanently closed off from the world. and incapable of providing some opportunity, jobs, economic growth for the population that lives there, particularly given how dense that population is how young that population is we're going to have to see a shift in opportunity for the people of gaza. i have no sympathy for hamas. i have great sympathy for ordinary people who are struggling within gaza. and the question then becomes can we find a formula in which israel has greater assurance that gaza will not be a launching pad for further

attacks, perhaps more dangerous attacks as technology develops into their country? but at the same time palestinians have some openings so that they do not feel walled off and incapable of pursuing basic prosperity. i think there are formulas that are available but they're going to require risks on the part of political leaders. they're going to require a slow rebuilding of trust, which is obviously very difficult in the aftermath of the kind of violence that we've seen so i don't think we get there right away. but the u.s. goal right now would be to make sure that a cease-fire holds, that gaza can begin the process of rebuilding and that some measures are taken so that the -- the people of

gaza feel some sense of hope. and the people of israel feel confident that they're not going to have a repeat of the kind of rocket launches that we've seen over the last several weeks. and secretary kerry has been in consistent contact with all the parties involved. we expect we will continue to be trying to work as diligently as we can to move the process forward. it is also going to need to involve the palestinian leadership in the west bank. i have no sympathy for hamas. i have great sympathy for some of the work that has been done in cooperation with israel and the international community by the palestinian authority and

they've shown themselves to be responsible. they have recognized israel. they are prepared to move forward to arrive at a two-state solution. i think \[indiscernible] is sincere in his desire nor peace but they have also been weakened, i think, during this process. the populations in the west bank may have also lost confidence or lost a sense of hope in terms of how to move forward. we have to rebuild that as well. and they are -- the delegation that's leading the palestinian negotiators and my hope is that we'll be engaging in with them to try to move what has been a very distressing situation over the last few weeks.

thank you very much and thank you to all who participated in the african summit. it was an outstanding piece of work and i want to remind folks in case they've forgotten of the incredible young people who participate -- participated in our fellows prom. -- program. we're very proud of you and we're looking to see all the great things you do when you go back home. all right? thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] "washington journal" is next and president obama signs of veterans affairs will. later, house hearing on the ebola virus. tonight, debate between the candidates in hawaii's -- democratic primary. we will talk with the chairman of today's hearing on the ebola virus, congressman chris smith. on then james zogby

israeli-palestinian conflict a look at the competition between states to attract investment and jobs.