It's hard to takke the US serious when they tell other countries to accecpt terrorism and to negotiate with them.
haaretzdaily.com
Israel rejects U.S call for 'immediate' withdrawal from Area A
By Aluf Benn, Ha'aretz Correspondent and agencies
The United States called on Israel on Monday to withdraw its troops at once from all Palestinian-controlled areas and stay out in future.
"The government of Israel has told us that it does not intend to remain in those areas. Israeli defense forces should be withdrawn immediately from all Palestinian-controlled areas and no further such incursions should be made," State Department spokesman Philip Reeker told a daily briefing.
Reeker also called on the Palestinian Authority under Yasser Arafat to "do all in its power to halt violence and terror and bring to justice the terrorists whose actions are betraying Palestinian interests."
Israel is rejecting the American demand. A senior diplomatic source in Israel said that "our stance remains the same. We will leave only when the goals of the operation are achieved, and our only priority is security. We respect the United States but are acting just as any normal state would act."
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who is currently in Washington, will speak with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Tuesday about the American demand. Earlier Monday, Peres met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and said that Israel is not working to replace Arafat or topple the Palestinian Authority. He also said that Israel has no war against the Palestinians, but a war against terror.
Channel One reported that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was surprised by the announcement.
Last week, follwing the murder of Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi, the IDF entered the Palestinian cities of Jenin, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Tul Karm, Nablus and Qalqilyah.
Peres: Israel not sure it has a partner in Yasser Arafat
On a trip to the United States, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Monday that the main question facing Israel at present, was whether it still had a political partner in Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.
"We are not conducting a personal war against Arafat. The main problem is that Arafat has to decide about his own leadership," Peres told a gathering of the National Press Club in Washington. "We don't want the downfall of the Palestinian Authority, we would like to see them being successful, enjoying freedom and prosperity."
Asked about the future of Jerusalem and how this vexing issue might be solved, said a de facto solution was already in effect on the ground: "In fact, there is an arrangement in Jerusalem. The difficulty really is to define it. Because the actual situation is that the Palestinians control their mosque, on Temple Mount, there is no Israeli that will enter the mosque… we have the police separating the Temple Mount from the rest of Jerusalem, with tens of thousands Muslims coming there undisturbed."
Peres hinted that a comprehensive solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - like the end-of-conflict agreement sought by former prime minister Ehud Barak - was not possible at present. He suggested putting off vexing problems like Jerusalem and the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and trying rather to first settle other key issues.
"I advised former prime minister Barak not to ask for the finality of the conflict because I felt it may raise the issue of Jerusalem and the refugees in the center, and discover that we don't have a solution," he said. "I believe we have to solve the other problems first of all: borders, the Palestinian state, and with the rest to be more patient." |
