Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Israel Calling Up Reservists for Possible Strikes

Aired May 09, 2002 - 12:08   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: In the Middle East now, reports saying Israel is calling up military reservists, and many in the region expect a military strike to avenge the deaths of 15 Israelis in a suicide bombing on Tuesday.

Wolf Blitzer live in Jerusalem now watching all the developments there. And, Wolf, despite the military call-up that we're seeing, is there any evidence on the ground that there is a military movement right now either toward Gaza or somewhere in the West Bank?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: There is evidence that there's something planned, presumably for Gaza. That seems to be the focus of attention. A lot of leaks to the Israeli newspapers that the next Israeli target is going to be Gaza.

That's primarily because the group claiming responsibility for that suicide bombing a couple of days ago just south of Tel Aviv in Rishon Letzion was the group Hamas, and most of Hamas is based in Gaza.

Now interestingly enough, over the past 24 hours, following that recent statement from Yasser Arafat saying that no more of these suicide bombings, the Palestinian Authority condemns them and will take steps to prevent these suicide bombing attacks against Israeli civilians, about a dozen representatives of Hamas -- relatively low level -- have been rounded up by the Palestinian Authority in Gaza.

The top official, Sheik Yassin, who is the spiritual leader of Hamas, and many of his top aides, have not been rounded up, but there is a widespread sense now that the Palestinian Authority is under enormous pressure to do something. The Israelis are saying it may be a case of too little too late, it may just be cosmetic. They're not taking it all that seriously.

Although, as you know, Bill, President Bush said it was incredibly positive, the public statement that Yasser Arafat issued on Palestinian television in Arabic only yesterday.

HEMMER: And, Wolf, if we continue to look at the reservist call- up, back in the first part of April, I believe the figure is somewhere around 20,000. Do you have an indication about how big this current call-up is that may indicate how big the response might be? BLITZER: There are reservists that are being called up, that's been confirmed by the Israeli military. They're not saying how many. Knowledgeable sources here in Israel are suggesting it's not going to be nearly as big as it was the last time, which was the largest military operation that Israel waged in some 20 years since the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the early 1980s.

But there already has been some mobilization of the reserves. And that's a sign that the Israeli security cabinet -- the inner cabinet that met at an Israeli air base right next to Ben Gurion Airport last night right after the prime minister returned from that abbreviated visit to the United States, that the prime minister and the defense minister, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer were authorized unanimously by the cabinet to take retaliatory measures, preventive measures, if you will, as well. And everyone here, Palestinians as well as Israelis, seem to be bracing right now for exactly that.

It could happen an hour from now, it could happen a day or two from now. But there is a widespread sense that Israel is about to strike.

HEMMER: Wolf, what are you hearing -- what's your gauge and your sense right now of the Israeli people? Are they still in lockstep essentially with their leadership in terms of military response?

BLITZER: By in large there seems to be a lot of support for the Prime Minister Sharon right now. There had been, as you remember, Bill, because you and I were here that day April 12, when that last suicide bombing occurred in the Jerusalem open-air marketplace, the Mahane Yehuda marketplace right not far from where I am right now. And at that time, there was shock in Israel.

But it had been quiet until earlier this week in Rishon Letzion, and Israelis were becoming a little bit more complacent, less on guard as they had been in following all the series of suicide bombings in Netanya and Haifa and Jerusalem and elsewhere. Now there's -- once again, there's concern, although today is what the Israelis call "Jerusalem Day" here in Jerusalem. They celebrate the unification of east and west Jerusalem following the 1967 Six Day War.

So there are a lot of people out on the streets. Surprisingly a lot of traffic. People are going about and expressing their pride, their satisfaction that Jerusalem is united under Israeli control. Of course, Palestinians aren't very happy about that.

HEMMER: One more thing, Wolf, while we have you here. The concentration, the focus public, anyway, has been on Gaza. But where is Yasser Arafat? Is he still in Ramallah? Has he ever left there?

BLITZER: He's in Ramallah right now. He's meeting with his Palestinian Authority advisers. He's working the phones, he's doing what he does best under a circumstance like this. He's up against a wall; he knows it.

The Israelis are angry. They're trying to undermine his authority. They're trying to weaken him as much as possible. He does still have some element of support from President Bush who issued that statement after Arafat's own TV address, in which he said -- the words, the utterances of Arafat were incredibly positive.

But the U.S., of course, the Bush administration wants Arafat to back up those words with deeds. And at least it seems to be starting in Gaza, with the roundup of about a dozen or so Hamas members.

HEMMER: Interesting move. We don't have time, Wolf, but certainly want to point out that Bethlehem, no change in the standoff there. But certainly something that still remains tense south of your location, about six miles south of Jerusalem.

Wolf Blitzer, thanks. Live in Jerusalem for us.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com