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CNN Live Saturday

What Needs To Be Done To Stop Terrorist Violence In Israel

Aired August 23, 2003 - 14:38   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.


RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: Palestinian leaders say they will try to broker a new halt to attacks by Islamic extremists. That follows a suicide bomb attack that killed at least 20 people Tuesday on a bus in Jerusalem. CNN's Jim Bitterman has an update on the increasing unstable situation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Despite the week end here, the Israeli military has been active. They were out in Genin this morning going door to door, looking for terrorists, and there was earlier a shoot out at an Outlook (ph) hospital that killed a militant and two other people. Also, along the Gaza Strip, Israeli tanks have been spotted lining up. There's a feeling they may be preparing for some kind of military action in The Gaza.

In Jerusalem and throughout Israel a great deal of tension this week end, worries about a possible terrorist attack, especially after the Friday funeral of a very popular Hamas figure here, Ismail Abu Shanab who was killed in an Israeli targeted assassination. During his funeral on Friday, tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of the Gaza and called for the revenge against Israel.

Meanwhile, the West Bank town of Ramallah, the Palestinian authority was meeting this week end and after that meeting they came out saying, they would be willing to help crack down on terrorists if Israel halts its military operations in the Palestinian territories. And several of the cabinet members called quite strongly for a much greater United States participation in the road map process with mediators and perhaps, observers on the ground. to help settle disputes between the Israel and the Palestinians.

However, the Israelis in the past have always rejected that kind of role for the U.S. Jim Bitterman, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAN MIGUEL: Well, with the latest developments in the Middle East, some wonder whether the road map for peace can be salvaged, or whether the two sides have reached a permanent impasse. Joining us now to discuss all that, Richard Wolf. He's the senior diplomatic correspondent for "Newsweek" magazine. He's in our Washington bureau. Mr. Wolf, thanks for being with us today.

RICHARD WOLF, SENIOR DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT, "NEWSWEEK": Pleasure. SAN MIGUEL: The lead I just read is whether the road map for peace can be salvaged. I think the question may be whether Mahmoud Abbas' credibility with Palestinians and Israel can be salvaged? What do you think?

WOLF: Absolutely. This is the moment of truth for Prime Minister Mamoud Abbas. He has had this policy of negotiating with these terrorist groups, trying to bring about some sort of of political solution. That has obviously not worked. And his credibility is torn to pieces, not just with the Israelis, but with the Bush administration.

We've seen a real reversal of position here from the White House, from the State Department, reaching beyond Mahmoud Abbas to Yasser Arafat asking him to do what he can to bring in the terrorists, and end the violence. This is a really tough moment much more for Mahmoud Abbas than for the road map.

SAN MIGUEL: So what you are saying is you don't expect the U.S. to do anything else to bolster his credibility in the Arab world?

WOLF: I don't believe so right now. They've really laid down a challenge for him. And you got to understand this is all coming at a time when American forces are facing their own terrorist attacks in Iraq. And there's a huge amount of identification. It goes well beyond the normal sympathy that is there in the White House for the Israeli position. But there's an identification here between the kinds of tactics the American forces have to conduct in Iraq and what the Israelies are doing in the West Bank in Gaza.

SAN MIGUEL: What kind of signal, do you think, it sends to the region that after months saying that Yasser Arafat is irrelevant, Yasser Arafat will not be dealt with by the U.S. administration, you have this week Colin Powell calling upon Arafat to do his part make the region secure.

WOLF: Well, it's not a very good message, of course. But frankly, most in the region and also in Europe, didn't think this policy was realistic. This policy of sidelining Yasser Arafat and just calling him irrelevant. You can't just call someone irrelevant. The fact is, he still had some relevance and that's what this now shows. I think people will say, yes, it's a good sign that they've finally woken up, the administration has finally woken up to Yasser Arafat's enduring political power. But the question is, is it too little too late.

SAN MIGUEL: Despite Abbas' damaged credibility here there are some high-ranking Palestinian is, who want the U.S. to get deeper involved with the region to try to get everybody back on that road map. What else can be done by the U.S.?

WOLF: Well there's no question the U.S. has great leverage with Israel and can start from the edges of what is obviously going to be a hard counter attack an another crackdown on these militant groups.

But to be honest, as I said, the Americans are really not in that position where they want to do this. There's a lots of sympathy, a lot of cooperation, a lot of sense their fighting a shared enemy here with these terrorists. That's not a point of view that has any traction outside in Europe or the Arab world, but that's the position the Bush administration finds itself in right now.

SAN MIGUEL: Ok, so what about the U.N., the European Union, you know other members s-called the quartet, the European Union and Russia?

WOLF: Look, I think we have tried incremental steps for a long time. Of course, people can talk and make phone calls, they can do all sorts of things but something really radical needs to be done here. Either the steps in the road map need to be rapidly accelerated, a Palestinian state needs to be brought in much more quickly, or we need to take a different approach to security with an introduction of international forces to do the kinds of work the Israelies are doing.

As I said, does anyone have the appetite for that kind of dramatic step right now? I don't think so but that's what we need to do to break the log jam.

SAN MIGUEL: Richard Wolf, as you've seen, a diplomatic correspondent for "Newsweek" magazine. Thanks for joining us today. We appreciate your time.

WOLF: Thank you.

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





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Aired August 23, 2003 - 14:38   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: Palestinian leaders say they will try to broker a new halt to attacks by Islamic extremists. That follows a suicide bomb attack that killed at least 20 people Tuesday on a bus in Jerusalem. CNN's Jim Bitterman has an update on the increasing unstable situation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Despite the week end here, the Israeli military has been active. They were out in Genin this morning going door to door, looking for terrorists, and there was earlier a shoot out at an Outlook (ph) hospital that killed a militant and two other people. Also, along the Gaza Strip, Israeli tanks have been spotted lining up. There's a feeling they may be preparing for some kind of military action in The Gaza.

In Jerusalem and throughout Israel a great deal of tension this week end, worries about a possible terrorist attack, especially after the Friday funeral of a very popular Hamas figure here, Ismail Abu Shanab who was killed in an Israeli targeted assassination. During his funeral on Friday, tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of the Gaza and called for the revenge against Israel.

Meanwhile, the West Bank town of Ramallah, the Palestinian authority was meeting this week end and after that meeting they came out saying, they would be willing to help crack down on terrorists if Israel halts its military operations in the Palestinian territories. And several of the cabinet members called quite strongly for a much greater United States participation in the road map process with mediators and perhaps, observers on the ground. to help settle disputes between the Israel and the Palestinians.

However, the Israelis in the past have always rejected that kind of role for the U.S. Jim Bitterman, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAN MIGUEL: Well, with the latest developments in the Middle East, some wonder whether the road map for peace can be salvaged, or whether the two sides have reached a permanent impasse. Joining us now to discuss all that, Richard Wolf. He's the senior diplomatic correspondent for "Newsweek" magazine. He's in our Washington bureau. Mr. Wolf, thanks for being with us today.

RICHARD WOLF, SENIOR DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT, "NEWSWEEK": Pleasure. SAN MIGUEL: The lead I just read is whether the road map for peace can be salvaged. I think the question may be whether Mahmoud Abbas' credibility with Palestinians and Israel can be salvaged? What do you think?

WOLF: Absolutely. This is the moment of truth for Prime Minister Mamoud Abbas. He has had this policy of negotiating with these terrorist groups, trying to bring about some sort of of political solution. That has obviously not worked. And his credibility is torn to pieces, not just with the Israelis, but with the Bush administration.

We've seen a real reversal of position here from the White House, from the State Department, reaching beyond Mahmoud Abbas to Yasser Arafat asking him to do what he can to bring in the terrorists, and end the violence. This is a really tough moment much more for Mahmoud Abbas than for the road map.

SAN MIGUEL: So what you are saying is you don't expect the U.S. to do anything else to bolster his credibility in the Arab world?

WOLF: I don't believe so right now. They've really laid down a challenge for him. And you got to understand this is all coming at a time when American forces are facing their own terrorist attacks in Iraq. And there's a huge amount of identification. It goes well beyond the normal sympathy that is there in the White House for the Israeli position. But there's an identification here between the kinds of tactics the American forces have to conduct in Iraq and what the Israelies are doing in the West Bank in Gaza.

SAN MIGUEL: What kind of signal, do you think, it sends to the region that after months saying that Yasser Arafat is irrelevant, Yasser Arafat will not be dealt with by the U.S. administration, you have this week Colin Powell calling upon Arafat to do his part make the region secure.

WOLF: Well, it's not a very good message, of course. But frankly, most in the region and also in Europe, didn't think this policy was realistic. This policy of sidelining Yasser Arafat and just calling him irrelevant. You can't just call someone irrelevant. The fact is, he still had some relevance and that's what this now shows. I think people will say, yes, it's a good sign that they've finally woken up, the administration has finally woken up to Yasser Arafat's enduring political power. But the question is, is it too little too late.

SAN MIGUEL: Despite Abbas' damaged credibility here there are some high-ranking Palestinian is, who want the U.S. to get deeper involved with the region to try to get everybody back on that road map. What else can be done by the U.S.?

WOLF: Well there's no question the U.S. has great leverage with Israel and can start from the edges of what is obviously going to be a hard counter attack an another crackdown on these militant groups.

But to be honest, as I said, the Americans are really not in that position where they want to do this. There's a lots of sympathy, a lot of cooperation, a lot of sense their fighting a shared enemy here with these terrorists. That's not a point of view that has any traction outside in Europe or the Arab world, but that's the position the Bush administration finds itself in right now.

SAN MIGUEL: Ok, so what about the U.N., the European Union, you know other members s-called the quartet, the European Union and Russia?

WOLF: Look, I think we have tried incremental steps for a long time. Of course, people can talk and make phone calls, they can do all sorts of things but something really radical needs to be done here. Either the steps in the road map need to be rapidly accelerated, a Palestinian state needs to be brought in much more quickly, or we need to take a different approach to security with an introduction of international forces to do the kinds of work the Israelies are doing.

As I said, does anyone have the appetite for that kind of dramatic step right now? I don't think so but that's what we need to do to break the log jam.

SAN MIGUEL: Richard Wolf, as you've seen, a diplomatic correspondent for "Newsweek" magazine. Thanks for joining us today. We appreciate your time.

WOLF: Thank you.

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





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