Jun. 11, 2002
Bush: No confidence in emerging PA government
By JANINE ZACHARIA
WASHINGTON - President Bush suggested after meeting Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the White House this morning that conditions were not yet ripe for a ministerial Middle East summit "because nobody has confidence in the emerging Palestinian government."
But White House spokesman Ari Fleischer shortly afterwards played down the significance of Bush's comments saying a conference was still expected this summer though its contours still needed to be worked out. Bush also seemed to sign on to Sharon's view that Palestinian reform needed to precede peace moves but Fleischer said the president believes the two must "go hand in hand."
Bush, he said, stressed to Sharon during their meeting the importance of this and of providing a political horizon. He said too that Bush and Sharon discussed the summer conference. Both the president and Secretary of State Colin Powell see the conference "as one piece in a multi-peace process," he said.
Prime Minister Sharon told Bush that the conference should focus on stopping the terror and violence against Israelis and on Palestinian reform, senior officials in his delegation said. Arab states want a more robust agenda focused on Palestinian statehood.
Senior Israeli officials inisted that Arafat -- and what to do about him -- barely came up in conversation. The US opposes expelling him but senior Israeli officials stressed yesterday that the Palestinian leader is "not immune" to Israeli action. Israel has so far refrained from striking at him directly.
Bush and other senior US officials -- having now consulted with an array of Middle Eastern leaders -- are still discussing when or where the conference will take place and what will be its focus, Israeli and US officials said.
Sharon, according to Israeli officials, concedes that total Palestinian reform is not a precondition for peace talks to begin, only progress in that direction and an end to terror, violence, incitement plus the availability of a suitable Palestinian negotiating partner.
Also undecided is whether Bush or someone else in his administration will make a speech on the US vision for peace between Israel and the Palestinians before the conference. Sharon rejects the idea of a US-dictated timetable for peace talks.
Bush, Fleischer said, still has to mull over the conflicting views expressed by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Sharon. Mubarak has insisted a final peace deal be negotiated along the 1967 armistice lines.
Sharon rejects that border as a starting point for talks. The dispute was not raised during the White House meeting, the senior Israeli officials said..
"The president will think about if there is an appropriate time or moment to have any further reflections, and that's where he is," Fleischer said, illustrating how far the White House has to go before making any decisions on how to proceed.
The White House also endorsed Israel's incursions into West Bank territory - the most recent of which took place Sunday night - as a means of self-defense. Fleischer said the White House understood Sunday's incursion was of a limited duration.
Bush and Sharon met for an hour in the Oval Office yesterday and then had lunch together at the White House. The meeting was described as friendly.
Among the issues raised were Syria's support for terror, Israeli MIAs, the convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, and Azam Azam, an Israeli who is serving time in Egypt on what Israel says are trumped up espionage charges.
After meeting with Bush, Sharon met separately with Vice President Dick Cheney. Sharon had requested the meeting with Bush to try to persuade the administration that the time was not ripe to lay out a detailed timetable for Palestinian statehood, something the administration has been weighing.
Asked about the potential timing for a summit, Bush told reporters: "Let's get the summit in context the proposed summit this summer, a ministerial summit of people to come together to work toward the conditions necessary to establish a peace. See the conditions aren't even there yet."
"That's because no one has confidence in the emerging Palestinian government. So first things first. What institutions are necessary to give the Palestinian people hope and to give the Israelis confidence that the emerging government will be someone with whom they can deal," Bush added.
Fleischer said reporters should not over interpret Bush's remarks.
"The president was indicating that he has a concern about security in the region and the president thinks that the most effective way to provide the greatest security is through the reform of the Palestinian institutions, particularly the security apparatus therefore giving Israel and the Israeli people a better guarantee that they will be able to live in peace without suicide bombings.
"The president continues to believe that it is important that security and political talks go hand in hand. In fact during the course of the meeting the president did emphasize the importance of seeing a political horizon," Fleischer said.
Nevertheless, Bush outlined a series of reforms he expected from the Palestinians including security steps, transparency when it comes to economic matters, anti-corruption devices, and rule of law enforced by a court system.
The list was similar to that outlined by Bush during a meeting with Sharon last month at the White House.
"As these steps are taken as people work together to achieve the institutions necessary for peace that there is a political process on the horizon as well," he said.
Bush said a ministerial conference, as suggested by Secretary of State Colin Powell would be "aimed at achieving working toward the foundation necessary for there to be confidence and eventual peace."
Arab leaders, including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who met with Bush this past weekend at Camp David, had hoped for a more aggressive summit agenda, one that would be aimed at achieving Palestinian statehood.
Bush seemed to suggest that he was persuaded by Sharon that such discussions are premature.
Sharon, in his remarks in the Oval Office, reiterated his view that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat is not a partner for peace.
"At the present time we don't see yet a partner. We hope it will be a partner there who will be able to move forward, first to achieve durable peace in the area. And second of course to provide security to the citizens of our countries. And of course one of the most important things is how really to take the steps to make the lives of the Palestinians and other nations in the region better than they are now," Sharon said.
Asked about discussions in Israel that Arafat should be expelled, Bush said that Arafat was not the issue. "I think the issue is the Palestinian people." Fleischer said expelling Arafat would not help the situation.
Bush, asked about Israel's continued incursions into the West Bank and the impact they were having on the peace process, blamed those who use terror for the stalemate.
"We've got to work together to create the conditions that prevent a few from stopping what most people in the region want, which is peace. Israel has a right to defend herself and at the same time as Israel does so the prime minister's willing to discuss the conditions necessary to achieve what we want which is a secure region and a hopeful region," Bush said.
Sharon yesterday was also due to meet with Jewish American leaders.
Today he will hold meetings with senior officials on Capitol Hill. On Sunday night he met for three hours over dinner with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to prepare for today's Oval Office meeting.
Sharon also met with Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz yesterday.
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