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Terror Strikes in Israel
Aired May 20, 2003 - 14:05 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And in Israel, suicide bombers did their best to derail the talks aimed at achieving peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Five terror attacks on Saturday have killed a dozen Israelis.
Our Kelly Wallace is in Jerusalem with the latest on that story -- Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the latest is U.S. President Bush stepping in at a time when many believe it is critical that the U.S. get involved if there is any hope to move that road map for Middle East peace forward. He spoke with both Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and also with the Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.
Now in the call with Sharon, the prime minister's office said that the prime minister conveyed his determination to move forward with the peace process, but also that Mr. Sharon said, in order to move forward, terror must be beaten. He also said he plans to meet once again some time soon with the Palestinian prime minister.
In the call with the Palestinian prime minister, we are told that Mr. Abbas conveyed to President Bush his desire to see the American administration put pressure Israel to accept and implement that Mideast road map.
Kyra, a the Palestinians believe until Israel starts taking steps such as pulling troops out of Palestinian towns or stopping military operations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud Abbas won't really have the political cover to try and convince the Palestinian people to back a crackdown on these radical Palestinian groups -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Now, Kelly, let's go back to denouncing these terror attacks. We remember with Yasser Arafat, it took so much time and so much pressure for him to finally come forward and denounce these, and it affected his credibility with the U.S. Now you've got Mahmoud Abbas. When will we hear from him? When will he say something, and could it affect his credibility?
WALLACE: Well, he has spoken out, Kyra. He did issue a statement Sunday evening after the five suicide bombings in 48 hours, and then he did a television interview today with an Arab television network in which he said he condemns these suicide bombings. But he also said he believes part of the reason for the violence is Israeli occupation in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. I can tell you, Israeli officials believe they should hear more from Mahmoud Abbas and hear from him earlier. Some people were privately concerned that Mahmoud Abbas didn't speak out more quickly after we saw a couple of suicide bombings, and this is partly because Mahmoud Abbas has a political situation to deal with. Again, many Palestinians on the streets very, very angry after Israeli military operations, Palestinian civilians killed in some of these operations. Many of these Palestinians are supporting some of these radical Palestinian groups, and some of these attacks against Israelis.
So he's dealing with a domestic political situation, trying to come out and condemn these attacks, at the same time expressing his understanding about how he knows some Palestinians believe there is a reason for some of these attack -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, our Kelly Wallace live from Jerusalem.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 20, 2003 - 14:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And in Israel, suicide bombers did their best to derail the talks aimed at achieving peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Five terror attacks on Saturday have killed a dozen Israelis.
Our Kelly Wallace is in Jerusalem with the latest on that story -- Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the latest is U.S. President Bush stepping in at a time when many believe it is critical that the U.S. get involved if there is any hope to move that road map for Middle East peace forward. He spoke with both Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and also with the Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.
Now in the call with Sharon, the prime minister's office said that the prime minister conveyed his determination to move forward with the peace process, but also that Mr. Sharon said, in order to move forward, terror must be beaten. He also said he plans to meet once again some time soon with the Palestinian prime minister.
In the call with the Palestinian prime minister, we are told that Mr. Abbas conveyed to President Bush his desire to see the American administration put pressure Israel to accept and implement that Mideast road map.
Kyra, a the Palestinians believe until Israel starts taking steps such as pulling troops out of Palestinian towns or stopping military operations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud Abbas won't really have the political cover to try and convince the Palestinian people to back a crackdown on these radical Palestinian groups -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Now, Kelly, let's go back to denouncing these terror attacks. We remember with Yasser Arafat, it took so much time and so much pressure for him to finally come forward and denounce these, and it affected his credibility with the U.S. Now you've got Mahmoud Abbas. When will we hear from him? When will he say something, and could it affect his credibility?
WALLACE: Well, he has spoken out, Kyra. He did issue a statement Sunday evening after the five suicide bombings in 48 hours, and then he did a television interview today with an Arab television network in which he said he condemns these suicide bombings. But he also said he believes part of the reason for the violence is Israeli occupation in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. I can tell you, Israeli officials believe they should hear more from Mahmoud Abbas and hear from him earlier. Some people were privately concerned that Mahmoud Abbas didn't speak out more quickly after we saw a couple of suicide bombings, and this is partly because Mahmoud Abbas has a political situation to deal with. Again, many Palestinians on the streets very, very angry after Israeli military operations, Palestinian civilians killed in some of these operations. Many of these Palestinians are supporting some of these radical Palestinian groups, and some of these attacks against Israelis.
So he's dealing with a domestic political situation, trying to come out and condemn these attacks, at the same time expressing his understanding about how he knows some Palestinians believe there is a reason for some of these attack -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, our Kelly Wallace live from Jerusalem.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
