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CNN Live Today
An Israeli Viewpoint in the Mideast Crisis
Aired March 27, 2002 - 11:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us now with more perspective on the Middle East crisis and the search for a peaceful solution is ambassador Alon Pinkus. He is Israeli counselor general in New York.
Thank you very much for your time, Mr. Ambassador.
Let me ask you first of all about your thoughts now on how Israel is actually interpreting this list of no-shows we're seeing at the Arab summit. Many are thinking if all showed up there would be a very noticeable step forward this the peace process.
ALON PINKUS, ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL: Right. Well that's a good point, Leon. We don't know how to interpret it. It has to be a combination of several reasons and factors for them on not showing at the summit. There is inter-Arab policy and inter-Arab politics involved, the Egyptians feeling they have been sidetracked by the Saudi idea or the Saudi proposal so to speak.
I don't know why King Abdullah of Jordan has decided not to go. And Mr. Arafat himself who has done noting in the last year to earn right to go there he is obviously a no show. Not to mention two of his long-time mentors in the Arab world, Saddam Hussein of Iraq and Mr. Colonel Gadhafi of Libya. Our understanding is that the no shows should not prevent -- I repeat -- should not really prevent the Saudis from delivering the speech that we're all anxiously awaiting to listen to, or to hear if indeed it contains all those positive elements as they appeared in the media in the last month.
HARRIS: But is it true, that perhaps Ariel Sharon's words about reserving the right to bar Yasser Arafat from returning, that that statement actually guaranteed that Yasser Arafat would not go, and therefore, the other leaders wouldn't show up, and therefore not any a progress made here?
PINKUS: Well, in terms of the sequence of events, Leon, President Mubarak of Egypt said he will not go even before we made it clear to Arafat that he has not fulfilled the conditions that would have warranted him traveling. I think that Arafat's decision, or Arafat, was inclined rather not to go, knowing that Mubarak will not be there.
I don't think that this has anything to do with the Prime Minister Sharon's decision, or with the condition -- look, he laid two very simple conditions that in truth I don't know what so difficult to comply, why they are so difficult to comply with.
Well, for Arafat to make a speech in Arabic denouncing renouncing violence and declaring he will not tolerate violence. We've be asking that for the last year 1/2. What's so difficult about delivering a speech, especially for someone who probably more talented than Denzel Washington in acting it out?
HARRIS: What I'm curing about is why is it that Ariel Sharon felt it necessary to make that statement in public if that is something that you've been saying for so long? Why is it necessary to restate that at this particular point?
PINKUS: Because we had clear indications that once Arafat leaves like some kind of a self-ordained hero, all hell is going to break lose in the West Bank and Gaza in terms of terrorism, especially from the fundamentalist elements, the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.
But to a degree, also from the armed militias that defy Arafat himself, and we felt that if he is abroad and hell breaks out loose, he won't be able to come back, and he can't control things from afar, and we asked that we were -- well, we asked the world to understand that we want to reserve the right not to allow him back. That was a measure of pressure that was supposed to have been applied on him that had nothing to do what we think was his decision not to travel to Beirut.
HARRIS: Well, one thing that we want to make sure you've been made aware of, the fact that Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia did actually present his plan, he did present his plan before the Arab summit, but he also went on to mention that one of the conditions that he would like to see that is going to be demanded by his proposal before normalization of relations with Israel do take place is that there is some sort of right for return or the refugees guaranteed by Israel. Did you not hear that statement made this morning?
PINKUS: I did hear that statement, Leon.
HARRIS: But that there's also competing statement or competing document also being discussed here at this summit as well. How is your nation interpreting this move on two tracks here?
PINKUS: Look, the Saudi idea has a lot of positive elements in it, which is why we never dismissed it at face value. Quite the contrary. We said we will endorse and enter a dialogue with the Saudis, indeed with the entire Arab world, if they are serious on the normalization issue. The thing is that life in the Middle East has taught us to be extremely skeptical and extremely wary of these kind of declarations before they are actually delivered in the Arabic language.
As for the right of return of the refugees, that's a nonstarter. The Saudis know that. The Egyptians know that. In fact, the Palestinian know that everything contained in that statement that crown Prince Abdullah issued this morning on the right of refugee was on the issue of refugees and they're so-called right of return, was discussed at length at Camp David in July of 2000, and then in subsequent negotiating sessions. The Palestinian were the people who refused -- were the side, were the party, that refused to seriously negotiate the issue.
HARRIS: Sir, finally then, with that talk now perhaps being stalled with the absence of those key leaders from the Arab summit, and U.S. mediator Anthony Zinni there now in Israel, saying now that there will not be any meeting as had been planned to get together and talk about a cease-fire, and with Passover here just a matter of hours away, how much worse will things get before they get better here?
PINKUS: Oh, I wish I knew, Leon, and I hope you're wrong, and I hope that our assessment that things may get worse, that that assessment will be disproved by reality. The thing is...
HARRIS: Do you have reason to believe they will get better?
PINKUS: I believe that -- if common sense prevails with the Palestinians they will find Israel forthcoming and willing to enter negotiations. All we ask is something very simple, and in fact, I don't know which part of it they don't understand. Cease-fire, and announce a cease-fire. What is more simple? What is more logical than that?
HARRIS: Ambassador Alon Pinkus, thanks very much for your time this morning, appreciate it. We will be watching to see how things develop.
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