Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Today
Conflict in the Middle East: Israel Moves Into Hebron
Aired April 29, 2002 - 14:08 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: One step forward and one step back. Again today, there has been progress in ending two standoffs, but also a new Israeli push into the West Bank city of Hebron from overnight last night.
Jerrold Kessel now with more on the Monday in the Middle East.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not quite stability, not quite the day-after scenes for which President Bush might have been hoping.
Israeli tanks and troops thrust into Palestinian-controlled Hebron; at least nine Palestinians killed in clashes, dozens taken in for questioning.
Palestinian leaders accuse Israel of acting in bad faith, saying every time they show goodwill, Israel slaps them in the face.
YASSER ABED RABBO, PALESTINIAN MIN. OF INFORMATION: They want to undermine the effort that are made by the United States, Britain.
KESSEL: Israel calls it a limit operation against terror infrastructure.
BENJAMIN BEN-ELIEZER, ISRAELI DEF. MIN.: We have no intention not to capture, not to recapture, not to remain there. All our intention is to get there to do what we have to do and to get back.
KESSEL: Though he acceded to the Bush proposal, Israel's prime minister still seems to be operating according to his own timetable, own agenda.
The jury is still out on whether Ariel Sharon has undergone any sort of change in yielding to President Bush.
The ultra right wing within his National Unity government is lambasting the prime minister for kowtowing, threatening to bolt his broad coalition.
Nothing more important than national unity has been a basic Sharon policy plank, no more so, he maintains, than in times of war. But, this deal choreographed by President Bush, underlines another key factor in Israeli policymaking, especially in time of war.
DORE GOLD, SENIOR SHARON AIDE: When the United States makes it clear that vital interests are at stake, we'll make the best effort possible to help address them, while protecting the security of the Israeli people.
KESSEL: This the scene within Yasser Arafat's Ramallah compound, just hours before Sunday's endorsement by the Israeli cabinet of the Bush proposal.
Palestinians are counting on such scenes not to be repeated once the reality is changed following the transfer of the six Palestinians wanted by Israel from Mr. Arafat's headquarters to a jail here in Jericho, where they will be under United States and British guard.
That is expected within the next day, a change they hope that will give Mr. Arafat freedom of movement at last, after four months under Israel restrictions, very tight restrictions of the past month.
Mr. Arafat, say his aides, will first want to monitor the destruction in Palestinian areas and reestablish order.
Then, he will travel.
ABED RABBO: Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco. There will also be some visits to some European capitals, including France, Britain and, of course, Spain as well.
KESSEL (on camera): One designation unlikely to be on the Palestinian leader's travel schedule any time soon, Washington.
President Bush has said Mr. Arafat must now earn his trust. With an eye to future regional developments, Prime Minister Sharon, on the other hand, is expected to travel to Washington in a week or so, in a bid to workout common strategies.
Jerrold Kessel. CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
