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CNN Live Saturday

Tel Aviv Suicide Bombing Leaves Politicized Aftermath

Aired June 02, 2001 - 12:01   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.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN SATURDAY: We begin this hour with the aftermath of a grisly suicide bombing in Israel. The day after 18 people died outside a beach-front disco in Tel Aviv, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is calling for a cease-fire and a halt to the violence.

Israel's cabinet met in emergency session and said afterward that it will not take Arafat seriously until he backs his words with deeds.

The question now: Will Israel retaliate? And if so, how?

We get the latest from CNN's Christiane Amanpour in Jerusalem and Ben Wedeman in Tel Aviv.

And we start with you, Christiane.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Donna, given the way this intifada has been going for the last several months, everybody here is wondering whether the Israeli government will retaliate to this, the worst act of terrorism during this intifada.

Well, in the last few minutes, the government spokesman, Rannan Veseen (ph), has told CNN that the Israeli government has decided to give a little more time to the international community to exert what they call pressure on the Palestinian Authority President, Yasser Arafat, to commit concretely to stated goals of a cease-fire and an attempt to stop the violence.

So the Israeli government now saying that they are going to be giving a little more time. They did not put any deadline on it. They said they wanted this to happen as soon as possible. But they say they are going to allow diplomacy to work for a little while longer and see whether that has any result.

Earlier, as you mentioned, the Israeli government met in emergency session -- very unusual to meet on the Sabbath day. They did so, and they issued at statement -- first of all, obviously, expressing condolences to the families of the victims, and then saying that they lay the blame squarely on the shoulders of Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian authority.

The statement basically accuses Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority of being engaged in, quote, terrorist activity, encouraging and inciting hatred and violence. They also say the Palestinian Authority has violated its obligation and that they are -- as I say -- being held directly responsible.

Now, for his part, the Palestinian Authority President, Yasser Arafat, issued his own statement early today in Ramallah, on the West Bank, where he added his own personal condemnation of the bombing to that of the Palestinian Authority, saying that they condemn, quote, this tragic operation in Tel Aviv against civilians, and they condemn all operations that result in the killing of civilians -- both Israelis and Palestinians.

He went on to commit the Palestinian Authority to doing all it could to stop the violence and to seek an immediate and unconditional cease-fire, and he urged the international community to intervene to stop this cycle of violence and bring both sides back to the negotiating table.

Now, last night, as we know, at about 11:00 p.m. local time, a suicide bomber exploded himself outside a discotheque in Tel Aviv, killing himself and 17 Israelis. Most of those were teenagers.

As a result, the Israelis have closed off the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. They are also preventing Yasser Arafat from using the Gaza International Airport -- which means, at the moment, he cannot get back from West Bank to Gaza.

The Palestinian Authority, fearing retaliation, has asked all its official workers and so-called government employees to evacuate and abandon any government buildings and structures, and some U.N. officials have also left the Gaza Strip.

Now, with all of this going on, and with tensions really quite high, there have been really some clashes, down in Tel Aviv quite close to the bombing site last night, between Israeli Arabs and Jews.

And that's where we find CNN's Ben Wedeman.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christiane, those clashes went on for a good deal of the day -- hundreds of angry Israelis out here outside the Pasha nightclub.

Now the situation is much calmer. It appears that the crowd is dispersing more or less.

Now, joining us is Yossi Sedbon. He's the head of the Tel Aviv police. He's been involved in trying to contain the situation on the ground here -- also involved in the investigation.

Now, what we heard from many people in the crowd here is that they believe that the bomber had spent some time in a mosque across the street from here. And I'd like to ask you, Mr. Sedbon, how true is the -- is it true that the bomber spent time in the mosque across the street?

MAJ. GEN. YOSSI SEDBON, TEL AVIV POLICE CHIEF: As we know the facts, this is not true. But we are investigating the question who brought him here, who sent him and what's his name. We don't know yet. Because of court order, I cannot tell anything about the investigation.

WEDEMAN: Now, obviously security is at a primary concern. What sort of measures are you taking to avoid the kind of incident that happened last night?

SEDBON: We've got here all the police officer from Tel Aviv which we can. We've got also a police officer from the border guards that came here from all over the country. And so we get also a police officer from another district.

So now we are here, about 1,000 police officer all over the area, and we are intend to do everything that we can that demonstrations that we saw here will not repeat themselves.

WEDEMAN: All right. Thank you very much.

That was Yossi Sedbon, the head of the Tel Aviv police.

Obviously, after last night's bombing, fear is very much in the area of security -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: Ben, indeed -- and as we've mentioned already, the Israeli authorities have closed off -- sealed off the West Bank and Gaza, and they have also closed off the international crossings from Gaza into Egypt and from the West Bank into Jordan.

In the meantime, the issue of who was responsible for this bombing -- it is still not clear. According to Israeli television, Islamic Jihad is responsible. However, we have seen no claim of responsibility by Islamic Jihad, and therefore, that has that has not been independently confirmed.

On the other hand, Hamas -- the other organization that is accused of taking part in terrorist activities -- has not claimed responsibility either, but said that Israel can expect more such attacks. And another Hamas official has condemned Yasser Arafat for even calling for a cease-fire.

The Palestinian who's been the most visible in -- over the years in terms of negotiating with the Israelis and with the international community, Saeb Erakat, has called for an urgent and immediate reintroduction of U.S. diplomacy, and is calling for the U.S. envoy, Bill Burns, to come back to this area and to try and halt this and bring both sides back to some kind of negotiations -- Donna.

KELLEY: Christiane, in addition to trying to bring the United States back in and bring Burns back there, do you know of any other plans to try and bring the parties back to the negotiating table?

AMANPOUR: Well, there has been the Mitchell Report, there's been a joint Egyptian-Jordanian initiative -- but these are still sort of on the table but not working, frankly, at the moment.

There has been the E.U. -- various ministers and officials have been here. In fact, today, the German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has been here.

So there has been an enormous amount of attempt and effort to try to work diplomatically through this crisis, but it has spun into a realm where it's very, very difficult. And certainly most people in this region believe that given its past experience and given the reality of this situation, it's the United States which has the most credibility and the most leverage and the most experience in bringing diplomacy to this region. And that's why many people -- particularly the Palestinians, at this point -- are urging the U.S. to get back in charge and to -- and to come back and work diplomacy here.

KELLEY: Christiane, I don't know how long you've been on the ground there, but if you've had a chance to talk to the Palestinians or the Israelis -- just the folks on the street -- are they angry? Do they want revenge? Or do they want people to try and get this peace process back on track?

AMANPOUR: Well, I can tell you that certainly the Israeli television has been broadcasting -- and radio -- all day about this. I mean, ever since this happened, it's just been non-stop broadcasting and analyzing and trying to figure out which way to go and what should be done.

And there's a sense, obviously, from the Palestinians -- I mean, it's quiet today, and in Jerusalem, everything is closed down because here they are still in mourning over the death of Faisal Husseini, the Palestinian peace negotiator who died a few days ago and who was buried in Jerusalem.

So it's quite quiet on the streets.

Also, it's the Sabbath, so most people are not out on the street. There was that melee down in Tel Aviv, which shows the sort of heightened tensions.

But there is a great sense of desperation, really, on both sides.

KELLEY: Christiane Amanpour ...

AMANPOUR: And fear of retaliation.

KELLEY: Christiane Amanpour in Jerusalem and Ben Wedeman in Tel Aviv. Thanks very much. We'll be checking in with you again.

President Bush is spending this weekend with his family at Camp David, but he's keeping up to date on developments in the Middle East. And we get the latest from our senior White House correspondent, John King -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Donna, again, a mounting sense of frustration and exasperation -- not only by the president, but also other senior Administration officials, as yet again, deadly violence in the Middle East.

The president issued a statement after the most recent suicide bombing, saying, quote, "there's no justification for senseless attacks against innocent civilians."

The president once again calling for an unconditional cease-fire.

Now, U.S. officials reject the notion that they're not actively involved. They say the United States is working aggressively behind the scenes, but that the next key step is a decision by both the Israelis and the Palestinians to actually sit down and agree to a cease-fire.

That is the view of senior U.S. officials and most U.S. analysts on the Middle East -- that until the two parties reach some agreement, the influence of the United States is rather limited.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN ALTERMAN, U.S. INSTITUTE OF PEACE: He doesn't have the credibility that you really need to change the situation on the ground. Ultimately, the solution is going to have to come from at the last the inclination of people over there. And Washington can hope and hope and try to cajole and try to pressure some, but ultimately, people in the Middle East have to make that decision. It's not a decision that can be made in Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Still, we are told U.S. diplomats working behind the scenes at the moment, urging the Israelis to show restraint.

As you heard Christiane mention, the Israelis saying they want to give the international community more time to see if they can bring pressure on Mr. Arafat to not only agree to a cease-fire, but to actually take the steps necessary to bring about.

U.S. diplomats, we're told, involved in those conversations, trying to put to the test Mr. Arafat's first public commitment to a cease-fire. The Israelis have agreed to one in the past; the Palestinians now. The U.S. says the two parties must come together, actually make that a reality, and then perhaps there can be some negotiations.

But no one's thinking about a peace deal right now. Everyone right now trying to end the violence and then just agree on some increased security cooperation -- Donna.

KELLEY: John, another matter that the White House is kind of paying attention to: Senator McCain -- and I suppose the White House particularly after Senator Jeffords changed to become an independent -- Senator McCain having a little soiree at his Arizona ranch, and invited Senator Daschle.

What's the scoop on that?

KING: Well, there's speculation that perhaps Senator McCain is thinking about bolting to the Democrats, or at least leaving the Republican Party, like Senator Jeffords, and becoming an Independent.

Even reports this morning, Senator McCain already thinking about mounting an independent campaign for president in 2004.

Just a short time ago, a statement from Senator McCain trying to tamp down all speculation. He says in this statement, quote, I have not instructed not encouraged any of my advisers to begin planning for a presidential run in 2004. I have not discussed running for president again with anyone. As I have said repeatedly, I have no intention of running for president; nor do I have any intention of, or cause to, leave the Republican Party. I hope this will put an end to further speculation on the subject.

Of course, it has not put an end to further speculation of the subject. A great deal of political theater and questioning here in Washington as the Senate prepares to shift from Republican control to Democratic control. Certainly, no love lost between President Bush and Senator McCain, so he will continue to be in the spotlight as this transfer of power takes place.

Here at The White House, though, they say they have received private assurances, as well, that Senator McCain, at least for now, is staying put in the Republican Party -- Donna.

KELLEY: OK, John King at The White House. Thanks very much. We'll see you soon.

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