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Israeli Leaders Wasting Little Time Answering Yesterday's Suicide Bombing
Aired June 19, 2002 - 10:07 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Israeli leaders are wasting little time answering yesterday's suicide bombing that killed 19 people in Jerusalem. The government says that it will retake Palestinian land it gave up in the early '90s, and they will hold that land as long as the terror attacks continue. Israeli trucks began moving into Jenin last night, and Jerrold Kessel has more now from Jerusalem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the site of Tuesday's deadly bus bombing, some Israelis come to light candles, some to lay wreaths, others to pray, mostly quiet prayers. Beyond, the question reverberating this morning, as the funerals continue for the 19 people killed in the attack: Has the Middle East conflict again moved into a different dimension, with Israel's declaration of a tough new approach in the battle to combat the Palestinian suicide bombers?
Tough, indeed, when confronted by attackers like the latest bomber, a religious studies student from a West Bank university, who before carrying out his attack declared in a farewell message how beautiful it is to kill and to be killed.
After Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had visited the site of the attack, the security cabinet declared that Israel was changing the policy in trying to preempt the bombers. Israeli troops moved into two Palestinian towns as a statement from Mr. Sharon's office said the policy would involve a reoccupation of Palestinian Authority territory until the terror stops, a statement adding more acts of terror would lead to more areas being taken. It's not immediately clear if the Israeli move into Jenin is implementation of that policy or a continuation of the policy of regular but limited forays into Palestinian towns to thwart the bombers at source.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was a shot across the bough. It was meant to send a warning to the Palestinians and also to Washington that the Israeli government is on the verge of taking drastic, irreversible decisions, such as the complete reoccupation of Palestinian towns and cities and the expulsion of Yasser Arafat. But given the fact that President Bush has yet to give his speech, and Prime Minister Sharon did not want to adversely affect the speech, from Israel's point of view, they've now taken this sort of halfway measure, and it's not clear how it will be implemented. I doubt very much, for example, whether Israel will take over complete Palestinian towns.
KESSEL: As Yasser Arafat met with the chief U.N. envoy to the region, his Palestinian Authority is condemning the new declared Israeli policy out of hand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a new escalation and this is a dangerous policy and it will lead nowhere except for more instability and we urge the United States to pressure Israelis to understand that without coming back to the negotiating table, without stopping their attacks, without stopping their new policy of deportation and assassination, they will never see any kind of stability.
KESSEL: Israel has already taken a unilateral initiative on the ground, Mr. Sharon visiting areas near the Israel West Bank border, where Israel is building a series of obstacles, including a fence to try to keep the bombers out. At one location Mr. Sharon was confronted by a man who lives in a settlement just inside the West Bank. Look me in the eye, please, Prime Minister, he said, and tell me which side of the fence I will be on.
You are not on the other side of the fence, Sharon tells him, a reassurance given by his defense minister, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer. The Israeli leader's maps indicate that means the fence here, at any event, will run quite a way inside the West Bank.
(on camera): Something Washington says in the future could create yet another barrier in obstructing its efforts to provide a road map out of the conflict. In addition to the very real immediate problem that the United States must face in mapping out its policies, the Palestinian suicide bombers and Israel's methods of battling the bombers.
Jerrold Kessel, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And on that note at this point, let's check in and see how the Bush Administration is reacting to these latest developments in the Middle East.
CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us now. She has more for us this morning.
Hello.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon.
Really, the reaction is very cautious from the White House. Really a delicate line balancing act here. On the one hand, White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer, in support of Israel's strategy to take those lands in the West Bank, to occupy them until these terrorist attacks subside. He has said just, and I'm quoting here, that the president understands that Israel is recovering from a very serious attack, that Israel has the right to defend itself.
At the same time, Fleischer also saying that Israel has to be aware of the consequences of its actions. When pressed further: what does that mean, the consequences? He said the political consequences to keep the political path to peace open. So clearly the White House trying to show support for both sides. Trying to show support, understanding for the Palestinians and the Israelis. But also not condemning this latest act, this latest strategy by Israeli forces.
Now he also told us that the president is going to be meeting on this issue with some of his senior aides to discuss a lot of the sticking points. He did tell us that that announcement will be coming shortly. We don't know exactly when, but the president is going to release his plan; but when asked if he had had the final mark on it, he said that pretty much that he thought the plan was in place, but he was simply looking for the timing, the proper timing to release that plan.
A couple of very important questions here. When is the correct timing of releasing that plan? When is the time going to be right on the ground? Secondly, the substance: should they actually go ahead and ask for a provisional Palestinian state? This is something that the administration aides have been debating for some time, and this is something that they know that the Israelis do not support, flatly rejected. And third, reality check. A time table.
Should they actually go ahead and ask for a time table, either for an international peace conference, later say in August or September, is that realistic, are we going to see the type of reforms that are necessary to get to that point, will we even see them at the negotiating table? And secondly, a time table for the more delicate issues, controversial issues. Borders. Refugees. Partitioning of Jerusalem. Is that going to be realistic to say, let's put a time on that: three years, two years, five years.
These are all the kinds of questions that the Bush Administration is still wrangling with. They are still debating this, to this very day. Leon?
HARRIS: Very interesting. That shows how much is on the plate. Speaking of time tables, Suzanne, does any of this that is happening right now, these recent developments, are they changing or affecting the time table, and from the talk right now about Secretary of State Colin Powell making a trip to the region?
MALVEAUX: Well, so far that trip is still expected to go ahead, but we really don't know when that's going to happen. Clearly, you have to assume that they are trying to figure out when the proper time is on the ground, when it's the safest time; and they do not expect that he will actually be in the region at least until the president releases his plan.
HARRIS: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. Thank you very much. We'll talk with you later on.
Of course, folks, we'll cover more of these developments. We have everything for you right there at our web site, CNN.com. You'll find all of the in-depth stories on the developments in the Middle East conflict there. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
