U.S. Urged to Cut Ties With Arafat
By Barry Schweid
AP Diplomatic Writer
Wednesday, May 30, 2001; 7:20 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON –– Israel's president urged the United States and other nations Wednesday to suspend relations with Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority if Arafat fails to put an end to terrorist attacks against the Jewish state.
"If he reaches the conclusion he has lost the world's backing, he will change his policy," Moshe Katsav told The Associated Press.
But, the Israeli president said, Arafat "wants an escalation; he believes in an escalation."
"All the leaders should say, 'Stop the violence, or we will cut off relations,'" Katsav said at Blair House, the president's guest house across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.
The longtime politician of the conservative Likud party, who was elected Israel's president last year, warned that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will not hold his fire if Palestinian attacks continue.
***"A few days, not more,"*** Katsav said of the unilateral Israeli cease-fire.
Katsav is to meet Thursday with President Bush, to be followed by a session with Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Israel sustained another bombing Wednesday. A blast outside a high school in Netanya rattled the city on Israel's northern coast. The Bush administration responded by again demanding that Arafat do more to end the attacks. Since fighting erupted in September, 569 people have died, mostly Palestinians.
Islamic Jihad, a militant group, took responsibility for Wednesday's bombing, which injured six people.
Katsav said he has no doubt that Arafat would be able to control the group, as well as Hamas, which has claimed several deadly attacks on Israel during the current eight-month conflict.
"Not all these units are connected, but all accept Arafat as a leader," Katsav said. "He controls all the militia, all the groups."
Arafat expects to receive worldwide sympathy, the Israeli president said. He will change his ways if leaders around the world cut him off, Katsav said.
"It is not just in Israel's interest; it is in the interest of the entire world," Katsav said.
Complimenting the Bush administration for its position on violence, Katsav rejected any idea that Israel invites criticism by continuing construction at Jewish settlements.
Katsav said it was not comparable to Palestinian attacks, and Powell's appeal for a halt in violence was not conditional on Israel halting all construction. Besides, he said, Sharon is not starting new settlements.
Earlier Wednesday, Condoleezza Rice, Bush's national security adviser, said Arafat "really needs to call on his people to stop the violence."
Rice, in an interview with American Urban Radio Networks, said that would be the first step toward getting Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.
"The President has been very clear that the violence has got to end," Rice said. "We have got to break the cycle of violence that we are engaged in now."
"It is our great hope that the leadership in the Middle East is going to do everything they can to stop the violence," she said.
The State Department also leaned on Arafat again, at the same time while criticizing Israel for planning new settlement construction.
A department spokesman, Philip Reeker, said: "We call upon the Palestinian Authority, and that would mean Mr. Arafat, to do all it can to put an end to such incidents like the incident we saw today."
The militant Palestinian group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, which injured six people.
Turning to Israel, which plans further construction at settlements, despite a call for a freeze in a U.S.-endorsed report by a fact-finding commission, Reeker said "continued settlement activity is a provocative activity and inflames an already volatile situation."
An American envoy, William Burns, has concluded his talks with the two sides. His assignment was to persuade Israel and the Palestinian Authority to implement the report by the commission, headed by former Senate Democratic leader George Mitchell.
Among the report's suggestions were that Palestinian leaders try harder to stop terrorist attacks on Israel and that Israel halt construction.
Reeker offered no assessment of the results of Burns' mission, although he said Israel and the Palestinians would hold another meeting on security and that Burns would report to the governments of Jordan and Egypt before returning to Washington. Jordan and Egypt, which have been acting as Mideast mediators between Israel and the Palestinians, have offered their own proposal for a truce.
Burns is awaiting Senate confirmation to take up a new post as assistant secretary of state for the Near East. Secretary of State Colin Powell said before sending Burns to the Middle East that he would plot his next moves after Burns concluded his current assignment and reported to him.
Meanwhile, Martin Indyk, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, and Ronald Schlicher, who heads the U.S. consulate, will continue talks with the two sides, Reeker said.
washingtonpost.com
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Note that I specifically highlighted "A few days, no more"... It jibes with my sense of Israel creating a calm before the storm.
Hawk |
