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American Morning

Israeli Reaction to Discussions in Washington

Aired August 09, 2002 - 09:07   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Palestinian negotiators in Washington are continuing their talks with U.S. officials today. It follows a round of meetings yesterday with Secretary of State Colin Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. Those talks are described as "serious" and "in-depth."
Now for the Israeli reaction to the discussions in Washington, we are joined by Alon Pinkas, Israeli consul general.

Good morning, welcome.

ALON PINKAS, ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL: Good morning, Paula. Nice to be here.

ZAHN: Mr. Erakat basically said there is zero trust between the Palestinians and the Israelis, and yet he thought that some progress was made at this meeting, and he feels that if the U.S. as long as the appearance get involved in the process, that the idea of Palestinian statehood three years from now could be reality. Is he dreaming?

PINKAS: Well, no, he's not dreaming. I wish that dream of his well. I too, believe it's attainable. But many things have to happen in order for this to become a reality. And I don't blame Saeb Erakat for feeling good. It is the first time in two years that they have gone into the heart of the American administration. They have been ostracized ever since Camp David, which was exactly two years ago as of today.

Everything Mr. Erakat was talking about was proposed by Bill Clinton at Camp David, and they rejected it. The appearance that he gives the American viewer on your show as if nothing happened between Camp David and now all we have to do is resume negotiations based on -- or the point where we stopped is a misinformation, is A gross misrepresentation of reality.

ZAHN: But the Palestinians have often said they -- at least the Palestinian Authority, they can't control Hamas and the other terrorist cells.

PINKAS: Why not, Paula? That's why a Palestinian Authority was established.

ZAHN: They say the Israeli so degraded the power of the Palestinian Authority to enforce the law that they can't do what you expect them to do.

PINKAS: Ninety percent of Hamas activity originates from the Gaza Strip. Israel is not in the Gaza Strip. There is a 12,000 strong police force in the Gaza Strip that's been in tact all throughout these two years. So whatever demolition works we did against the Palestinian police or the Palestinian Authority was in the West Bank, not in Gaza. Yet they have done nothing in the Gaza Strip to clamp down on Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. The fact that they did not clamp on these organization, route them out, is a matter of choice, not matter of ability.

ZAHN: Mr. Erakat once again condemned the bombing of Hebrew University, and for the first time that I can remember,. condemned publicly the demonstrations that you will take a look at now that came the night after that bombing in Gaza City, where thousands of Palestinians came out to celebrate.

PINKAS: Right.

ZAHN: Does that satisfy you?

PINKAS: Of course.

ZAHN: You haven't heard that before, have you?

PINKAS: No, I haven't. Look, it satisfies me in the fact that Saeb Erakat is a man of peace, always has been a man of peace, a man that I trust, a man that I respect. That's the good news. The bad news is that Saeb Erakat does not call the shots, does not decisions, is not as close -- was not as close to decision makers in last five or six years, and those decision makers are the terrorists that both George Bush, President George Bush and we have been condemning and ostracized, and for good reasons, in the last two years.

ZAHN: What does it mean that President Bush asked that Yasser Arafat leave his leadership position, and that wasn't even discussed according to Saeb Erakat at the meeting with Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice?

PINKAS: Obviously I don't know exactly what was discussed, but I can't believe Secretary of State Powell appeased Mr. Erakat on the issue of Mr. Arafat's political future.

ZAHN: Said it never came up.

PINKAS: I don't know. I was not in that room, obviously, Paula.

What I can say is for the last two years, we -- ever since Prime Minister Barak emerged out of Camp David unsuccessful in the attempt to get a comprehensive deal going, we have been saying that Arafat exhausted his usefulness as a political partner and as interlocutor. Every since 9-11, in the context of a global war against terrorism, President George W. Bush has been saying the same about the Palestinian leadership. Unless they leave, there won't be a comprehensive peace between Israel and the Palestinians. It's very simple. These are not credible, reliable, serious people; these are terrorists.

ZAHN: Palestinian say they won't be peace unless you quit building settlement. Evan Thomas Friedman of "The New York Times" says, you know, the insane -- Israel has been able to build insane settlements in the heart of the West Bank because the U.S. was ready to provide, with no limits attached.

PINKAS: That's a fair point. That's why we convened a summit at Camp David, in which we said, let's get the settlement issue, the border issue, settled, let's delineate a border, and the Palestinians went for it, and we said 80 percent of the settlers will be incorporated into Israel. The rest will be provided to a Palestinian state, which will be contiguous, irrespective of settlements, and some will be dismantled.

Settlements are no longer the issue. They were an issue 10 years ago, seven years ago, five years ago, three years ago. Ever since Camp David, that is not the issue.

ZAHN: Let's close with the final thought from Saeb Erakat, very disturbed that statistics would show that 50 percent of Palestinian children are malnourished. He said Colin Powell agreed to send some sort of delegation into why so many Palestinian kids are hungry. First of all, do you buy those statistics?

PINKAS: I buy...

ZAHN: And if they're true, why are these kinds not getting food?

PINKAS: I buy these statistics, it's an awful reality. We, Israel, will do everything possible to provide humanitarian aid and access to humanitarian aid from the world community. In fact, Foreign Minister Peres met with Kofi Annan last Thursday, and they decided that the U.N. will organize a multinational humanitarian aid package.

ZAHN: But why has this dragged on? Why are kids hungry?

PINKAS: Kids are hungry, because for the last 10 years, instead of building an economic infrastructure that would provide them -- there's no shortage of food, but there's shortage of money to buy food. There's no shortage -- and if you have the money to buy food, you don't have access to where the food is, and that has to do with the way, the means, the methods that the Palestinian Authority has been ruling in the last 10 years, a regime, a despotic regime, that provided no economic opportunity.

ZAHN: But you are saying now the Israelis are willing to help, and if the delegation...

PINKAS: Absolutely. These are very concerning -- disconcerting rather, statistics. Not one child in that area should be hungry.

ZAHN: Alon Pinkas, good of you to drop by.

Appreciate you joining us this morning on AMERICAN MORNING.

PINKAS: Thank you, Paula.

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