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Strikes Threaten Road Map to Peace

Aired June 10, 2003 - 15:00   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.


JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Officials here are scrambling to keep the Middle East peace process alive after back-to-back Israeli military strikes in Gaza. Within the past few hours, Israeli helicopter missiles struck a car in a Palestinian residential area, killing at least three people and wounding more than 30 others. Israel says it was responding to Palestinians firing homemade rockets toward the Jewish state.
Just hours earlier, Israeli gunships fired at a jeep on a busy street in Gaza City. At least two people were killed there. A top Hamas official, who apparently was the target of the attack, was wounded, along with more than 20 others, including an 8-year-old girl. The White House was quick to criticize Israel for that strike.

Let's bring in our senior White House correspondent, John King. John, they have to be distressed. The president has only been back from the region for a few days.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And, Judy, the task now is to try some urgent diplomacy to keep the situation from escalating into even more violence. The White House is reserving judgment on the second Israeli attack. It says it needs to learn the facts, but the White House is making clear its profound displeasure with the earlier attack, the attempt to use helicopter gunships to kill a leader of the Hamas movement.

Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary, earlier today saying that President Bush is deeply troubled. Ari Fleischer saying the president believes the Israeli military action violated the spirit and the letter of the commitments that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made to President Bush at last week's Mideast summit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The issue for the president is, in the hopeful moments after (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and in the hopeful moments leading up to (UNINTELLIGIBLE), neither party can afford to take actions of derailing the road map because it is too important to the peace and security and the well being of the Israeli people and the Palestinian people. And that is why the president finds this deeply troubling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now at the summit, President Bush promised to get personally involved himself if necessary. The president used the cowboy term "ride herd" -- that he would intervene and ride herd on the two leaders, Prime Minister Sharon and Prime Minister Abbas, if he felt they were not keeping their promises.

For now, the president is not directly involved, but his national security adviser among those taking the lead, calling their counterparts in the Israeli government to make it clear that the president is not happy with what he sees, that he views the Israeli action as counterproductive to the peace process and counterproductive to Israel's security.

Phone calls to top Palestinian officials as well, as the White House implores both sides now to step back from violence. And, Judy, we might hear a bit more from the president. He's scheduled to speak to reporters later this hour in the Oval Office.

WOODRUFF: And, John, you know there was a sense of urgency coming out of the meetings the president had in the Middle East when he was over there. Where does this leave everything, when you have this sort of violence back and forth already?

KING: Sadly, officials knew there would be a test like this. They had hoped that there would be a week or two in which both sides kept their early commitments in the road map, so that when there was a test, when there was deadly violence, that there would at least be a climate of some confidence and perhaps a little more trust to fall back on.

They obviously do not have that now. And in addition to having violence threatening the process, you now have this president publicly criticizing the government of Israel. Everyone acknowledges here it is a delicate moment; it is a test they knew would come.

It came a bit too soon, in their view, but they say the president is determined to try to get the parties back on track. One key step still to come is sending his special envoy, Ambassador John Wolf. He's due to leave Washington in just a few days. He should be in place in the region, we are told, by the end of the weekend, early next week at the latest.

WOODRUFF: All right. John King bringing us the very latest from the White House. John, thank you so much.

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 June 10, 2003 - 15:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Officials here are scrambling to keep the Middle East peace process alive after back-to-back Israeli military strikes in Gaza. Within the past few hours, Israeli helicopter missiles struck a car in a Palestinian residential area, killing at least three people and wounding more than 30 others. Israel says it was responding to Palestinians firing homemade rockets toward the Jewish state.
Just hours earlier, Israeli gunships fired at a jeep on a busy street in Gaza City. At least two people were killed there. A top Hamas official, who apparently was the target of the attack, was wounded, along with more than 20 others, including an 8-year-old girl. The White House was quick to criticize Israel for that strike.

Let's bring in our senior White House correspondent, John King. John, they have to be distressed. The president has only been back from the region for a few days.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And, Judy, the task now is to try some urgent diplomacy to keep the situation from escalating into even more violence. The White House is reserving judgment on the second Israeli attack. It says it needs to learn the facts, but the White House is making clear its profound displeasure with the earlier attack, the attempt to use helicopter gunships to kill a leader of the Hamas movement.

Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary, earlier today saying that President Bush is deeply troubled. Ari Fleischer saying the president believes the Israeli military action violated the spirit and the letter of the commitments that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made to President Bush at last week's Mideast summit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The issue for the president is, in the hopeful moments after (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and in the hopeful moments leading up to (UNINTELLIGIBLE), neither party can afford to take actions of derailing the road map because it is too important to the peace and security and the well being of the Israeli people and the Palestinian people. And that is why the president finds this deeply troubling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now at the summit, President Bush promised to get personally involved himself if necessary. The president used the cowboy term "ride herd" -- that he would intervene and ride herd on the two leaders, Prime Minister Sharon and Prime Minister Abbas, if he felt they were not keeping their promises.

For now, the president is not directly involved, but his national security adviser among those taking the lead, calling their counterparts in the Israeli government to make it clear that the president is not happy with what he sees, that he views the Israeli action as counterproductive to the peace process and counterproductive to Israel's security.

Phone calls to top Palestinian officials as well, as the White House implores both sides now to step back from violence. And, Judy, we might hear a bit more from the president. He's scheduled to speak to reporters later this hour in the Oval Office.

WOODRUFF: And, John, you know there was a sense of urgency coming out of the meetings the president had in the Middle East when he was over there. Where does this leave everything, when you have this sort of violence back and forth already?

KING: Sadly, officials knew there would be a test like this. They had hoped that there would be a week or two in which both sides kept their early commitments in the road map, so that when there was a test, when there was deadly violence, that there would at least be a climate of some confidence and perhaps a little more trust to fall back on.

They obviously do not have that now. And in addition to having violence threatening the process, you now have this president publicly criticizing the government of Israel. Everyone acknowledges here it is a delicate moment; it is a test they knew would come.

It came a bit too soon, in their view, but they say the president is determined to try to get the parties back on track. One key step still to come is sending his special envoy, Ambassador John Wolf. He's due to leave Washington in just a few days. He should be in place in the region, we are told, by the end of the weekend, early next week at the latest.

WOODRUFF: All right. John King bringing us the very latest from the White House. John, thank you so much.

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