Actually, It looks like, while Israel is getting publicly scolded, Arafat seems to be receiving THE REAL PRESSURE behind the scenes:
Bush: Our war comes first (Israel's will be next??)
By Janine Zacharia and Lamia Lahoud
jpost.com
WASHINGTON (October 24) - President George W. Bush told Foreign Minister Shimon Peres yesterday the impression Israel is launching a full-scale war on the Palestinians is impeding his ability to carry out the US-led war on terrorism, officials said.
"The president said the message was to get out [of Palestinian-ruled areas]," one administration official said. "The president said he had a commitment from Prime Minister [Ariel] Sharon not to escalate the situation. And he said even the perception of escalation is not good. He asked that Israel remember the commitment."
Bush, who joined a meeting between Peres and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice in progress at the White House and stayed 30 minutes, didn't put any specific time line on an Israeli withdrawal. But the administration official said the US position is well known.
When Bush and other administration officials explained the need for a withdrawal, Peres expressed understanding and said Israel has no intention of reconquering Palestinian-controlled cities. He said Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat needs to take the demanded steps, such as arresting wanted terrorists, before a pullback.
Bush also expressed condolences for the murder of tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi. But he told Peres that since the assassination, Israel "appears to have gone overboard," and he urged it to return to a series of constructive steps that eased the lives of the Palestinians it had started before the murder, officials said.
Bush also assured Peres the US, along with other Western countries, is exerting maximum pressure on Arafat to arrest Ze'evi's killers and other perpetrators of terrorism. On Monday, Bush delivered a toughly worded letter to Arafat via the US consul-general in Jerusalem, Ronald Schlicher, listing the American demands.
By late afternoon yesterday the White House had not yet received a response.
The White House had hoped to send the letter to Arafat last Friday, before the incursions over the weekend necessitated a toughly worded US rebuke of Israel on Monday. That rebuke drew stiff protests, particularly from American Jewish organizations. But the letter could not be authorized and signed by Bush before his return from Asia, one official said.
Peres recounted the case of Atef Abayat, a Tanzim leader in the Bethlehem area wanted for several murders, whom Israel killed this week. Peres said he had received repeated assurances from Arafat and West Bank Preventive Security Service chief Jibril Rajoub that Abayat had been detained. However, he was killed while riding freely in a jeep.
While Bush pressed Israel to lower tensions, withdraw its forces, and exercise restraint in West Bank and Gaza, Peres answered with five requests of the Americans: Continue to press Arafat to live up to his commitments; use its influence to prevent anti-Israeli motions in the UN Security Council; add certain anti-Israel terrorist groups to those being targeted; do not surprise Israel; and warn Syria to keep the northern border quiet.
In a separate meeting, Secretary of State Colin Powell assured Peres no speech outlining a US vision of a final peace agreement is planned for now. If the US does go ahead with such a speech, it will consult with Israel beforehand, he said.
According to a senior official present during the Bush-Peres meeting, Bush also lauded Ambassador David Ivry for his fine performance. The compliment was sparked by criticism of Ivry in a column yesterday by New York Times commentator Thomas Friedman.
"Your ambassador is a very fine man. He's one of Israel's best. He gave us all an example of preemptive action," the official quoted Bush as saying.
The preemptive action Bush referred to was Ivry's command of the 1981 bombing of an Iraqi nuclear facility. "The president was quite warm about it," the official added.
Ivry has been working non-stop behind the scenes, embassy officials say. But he is infrequently seen in public, drawing criticism from some who would like to see him appear regularly on television.
Meanwhile, PA officials said the European Community, the UN, the US, and Russia are coordinating efforts to work out a compromise by which the PA will crack down on terrorists and arrest Ze'evi's killers, who may be in the PA areas, and Israel will withdraw from PA-controlled areas and stop its policy of assassinations.
A Western source close to the combined efforts said the international community feels it is difficult for Arafat to take the necessary actions against terrorists while Israel continues to target terrorists and occupies PA areas.
At the same time, he said, the international community needs to stand united to pressure Arafat to follow through with his decisions to arrest those who violate the cease-fire and outlaw the military wings of Palestinian factions. He said the international community also expects Arafat to arrest 10 wanted terrorists on a list handed to the PA. He said the PA has already arrested four of them.
The source said the demand that Arafat hand over any suspects in the Ze'evi killing is asking for the impossible. He said the international community may get involved in supervising the PA trials of suspected Ze'evi killers to make sure they will be tried and punished.
One diplomatic official in Jerusalem said the primary goal of the incursion is to scare the world into thinking that Israel will topple the PA if it does not take serious efforts to prevent terror, the logic being that Arafat will only seriously take action if he feels the world breathing down his neck. Israel had hoped, the official explained, that the action would force the US and Europe to come down heavily on the PA.
"We misread the expected American reaction," he said. "Rather than publicly coming down hard on the Palestinians, the US came down hard on us, saying that first we should leave the territories, and then they will deal with the Palestinians. We expected them first to come down on the Palestinians, and then to pressure us to withdraw."
Diplomatic officials said that although Israel is getting a public scolding from the US, Arafat is being told in equally harsh terms - although through private channels - the violence must end.
The official said the US demand for an immediate withdrawal presents a problem, because the government will not want to appear to be buckling under pressure.
The exit strategy seemed to already be prepared Monday night, when government spokesmen said after the State Department's initial condemnation, the goal of the action was to prevent immediate terror threats - meaning any decision to withdraw could be simply explained by saying that the goals were accomplished.
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Yes... it seems the Israelis were prepared to depart by Monday, but because the State Department opened their mouth in such a harsh fashion, believing Israel was planning on toppling the PA, now they can't be seen as buckling under US pressure.
Hawk |
