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CNN Live At Daybreak
Israel Declares Arafat Irrelevant, Sends Tanks into West Bank
Aired December 14, 2001 - 05:33 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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: And turning to the Middle East now, six Palestinians reportedly died today in Israel's military campaign in the territories. Overnight the Israeli army bombed targets in the West Bank and Gaza and after that, ground forces moved in, demolishing buildings and arresting people suspected of terrorist activity.
As CNN's Sheila MacVicar reports, it's all part of Israel's no- tolerance stand towards Palestinian militants.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Israel is fed up and Yasser Arafat is under the gun. More Israeli strikes on Palestinian targets going after the symbols of Yasser Arafat's power striking very close to home. The Israelis insist they will not kill him, but they say if Mr. Arafat can not or will not take care of security, they will now do what it takes to do it themselves.
Early Thursday morning, Israel's cabinet ordered tanks back into the West Bank and Israel's Justice Minister announced the government was breaking contact with the Palestinian leader.
"Chairman Arafat has made himself irrelevant," he said.
Israeli officials have spent the day explaining just what irrelevant means.
DORE GOLD, SHARON ADVISER: Right now we don't see Yasser Arafat as the key for Middle East peace and security. We actually see him as probably the most disruptive force in the region.
MACVICAR: What has most angered Israel's government is Mr. Arafat's failure to arrest more Palestinian militants. Two of those responsible for the attack on the settler bus that left 10 Israelis dead were on Israel's wanted list -- a list Mr. Arafat has had for nearly a week.
And Israeli officials say this August bombing at a Jerusalem pizzeria that left 15 dead and 130 injured could have been stopped if Mr. Arafat had acted on specific intelligence information they say they gave him.
EPHRAIM SNEH, ISRAELI TRANSPORT MINISTER: He must decide to take a different course.
MACVICAR: Even labor members of the Sharon government like Ephraim Sneh, an architect to the Oslo Peace Accords now agree that without action, Mr. Arafat must be bypassed.
(on camera): Can you see a circumstance where Israel would again engage with Mr. Arafat?
SNEH: In the current moment, I don't see it.
MACVICAR (voice-over): The only Palestinian leader meeting today with any international mediator was Saeb Erakat.
(on camera): Mr. Erakat, what's your reaction this morning?
(voice-over): After an hour and a half with the U.S. envoy General Zinni, he emerged to plead for negotiations and charged the Israelis were undermining the Palestinian authority.
SAEB ERAKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: It's an all-out war being waged against the Palestinian authority and the Palestinian people. It's not merely a declaration of wary anymore. It's war being waged.
MACVICAR: On Palestinian television, reporting on Israeli strikes and the cabinet's decision to declare Mr. Arafat irrelevant, the Palestinian reporter asked, "where is this region going if the Israeli government loses its partner in peace?"
Just last week, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was reported by the Turkish Prime Minister to be inclined towards war and wanting to see Mr. Arafat removed from power.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Sharon has openly stated his wish to get rid of Arafat.
MACVICAR: Some analysts point to rising Palestinian frustration and anger and the increasing popularity of militant movements like Hamas and Islamic Jihad putting Mr. Arafat in a position where he risked internal strikes if he does as Israel demands now at the point of a gun.
TERJE TOED LARSEN, U.N. ENVOY TO MIDDLE EAST: It might be impossible to do it, but unless he moves against terrorism, nobody will be behind him in the civilized world. This has been put Mr. Arafat repeatedly -- also by myself -- over the last several weeks.
MACVICAR: Israel's government now says it doubts where Mr. Arafat would recognize the state of Israel who made historic compromises with Israelis can lead Palestinians out of the struggle for a homeland into the peace once promised by two co-existing states.
(on camera): Privately some Israeli officials are talking about the end of the Arafat era, but diplomats warn there is no heir apparent and no one else who is capable of making the still painful compromises necessary for peace. They predict that without Mr. Arafat, there would be chaos and anarchy in the Palestinian territories.
And for the Israelis, a security situation that could be much, much worse. Sheila MacVicar, CNN, Jerusalem.
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