Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Sunday Morning

Sharon Headed for Crucial Talks With Bush

Aired May 05, 2002 - 10:09   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: All right, turning now to the Middle East, Israel is expressing regrets over the accidental shooting death of a Palestinian woman and her two children. Israel says its troops mistakenly opened fire thinking that they were connected to a nearby explosion underneath an army tank.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is on his way to Washington to present a new peace plan to President Bush. TIME Magazine, a sister publication of CNN, reports the Israeli plan will include a major concession on Palestinian statehood. CNN's Jerrold Kessel looks at the many variables in a complex equation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Off to Washington, Ariel Sharon headed for what's being billed crucial talks with President Bush. Into the lion's den or can Ariel Sharon emerge as lion tamer as he seeks to coordinate with the United States future Mid East strategy for peace and war?

The massive declared Israeli counter offensive against terror is over, but Israeli forces continue to mount sporadic raids into Palestinian towns, pinpoint preemptive strikes Israel defines them, Mr. Sharon appearing still to be acting according to his own agenda, his own timetable.

But with Yasser Arafat emerging from his long isolation, the confrontation has definitely moved from head-on battles to an evolving diplomatic battleground. Mr. Sharon is expected to confront the President on how the proposed upcoming international conference can indeed move Israelis and Palestinians away from war and back into a political embrace.

Asher Levy, a former Israel general who used once to be Ariel Sharon's commander had a word of advice for those who want to shepherd Mr. Sharon along.

ASHER LEVY, SHARON'S FORMER COMMANDER: Knowing him, beating him over the head will not do the trick. He has to be convinced that this is the right decision. He has to be convinced that this is his solution, not somebody else's pressuring him.

KESSEL: Inference that Ariel Sharon remains comfortable with the idea that any settlement should include a Palestinian state. He know, however, he'll have to keep looking over his shoulder at his Likud Party colleagues who remain dead set against that.

RUEVEN RIVLIN, ISRAELI CABINET MINISTER: He will have to face a central party meeting a week after he would meet along with the American President in front of the Likud Party. It would be quite difficult for him, I must say so, because most of the members of that political party are rejecting the idea of the Palestinian State being headed by Arafat, God forbid.

KESSEL: Yasser Arafat is widely seen to have done well in having survived the declared Sharon objective of making him redundant for any forward-looking Middle East planning. But according to sources close to the prime minister, he still wants to convince Mr. Bush that Yasser Arafat would be a force for instability not stability.

DAVID LANDAU, HA ARETZ NEWSPAPER: When the President says that Arafat has a last chance to show that he can do what he needs to do, Ariel Sharon believes he won't - Arafat will not take that last chance, will do nothing to exercise authority over the militants in his own factions, and if he failed as Ariel Sharon believes he'll fail, then again Sharon's position visibly the American administration will be enhanced and strengthened.

KESSEL: The mistake is to imagine there can be any stability without Yasser Arafat. Here's the counter arguments.

AHMAD TIBI, ISRAELI ARAB LEGISLATOR: Noboby, nobody can fight but Yasser Arafat, neither here in Palestine or in the Arab world. If somebody is thinking about bypassing Yasser Arafat by talking with Arab leaders, he is dreaming.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KESSEL: Whether Yasser Arafat has a role, whether he should have a role or should not have a role in this new evolving diplomatic phase of the conflict remains a crucial issue. But interestingly, Kyra, the message that seems to be conveyed now by the Bush Administration to both the Israelis and the Palestinians is that it believes that Yasser Arafat can still be a force for stability provided he forcefully reasserts his authority and tries to restabilize his Palestinian Authority regime.

KYRA: Jerrold Kessel live in Jerusalem, thanks Jerrold. Well, as Mr. Sharon heads to Washington, new developments in the crisis may be at hand. In an exclusive report, TIME Magazine says Sharon is preparing to make a new concession on a Palestinian state. Senior White House Correspondent John King joins us with reaction with that. John.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Kyra. The Bush Administration says it is well aware Prime Minister Sharon is coming here for the meeting on Tuesday with President Bush, with some ideas of his own.

The Bush Administration says it welcomes those even though it also says in advance it knows some of them will probably raise objections, not only here at the White House but certainly with the Palestinians and Arabs as well based on previous statements Mr. Sharon has made about keeping Jerusalem the capitol of Israel as he wants it to be, about setting up buffer zones and other security zones between Israel and the Palestinians.

Still, the White House optimistic in the sense that peace is being discussed after the violence and deaths of recent months, it believes any discussions are in and of themselves some sign of progress.

The Bush Administration though also going to great lengths to play down any expectations that any breakthroughs are immediate, either in the conversations with Prime Minister Sharon here, Jordan's King Abdullah coming to the White House to this week as well, all of this Secretary of State Colin Powell saying today part of the build up to an international conference the United States is taking the lead in organizing.

That will be about a month, six weeks from now, the date not yet certain. Secretary Powell says between now and then the idea is for everybody to put their ideas on the table and then perhaps by the time that conference comes about, some effort to reach some consensus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're looking to this meeting sometime this summer as a way of brining together a variety of ideas about how one might move forward in the political process. We also want to use those meetings to talk about security issues, creating a better state of security between Israelis and Palestinians, getting things under control, getting the violence down, exchanging information. We also want to talk about economic reconstruction and assisting the Palestinian Authority in rebuilding itself in a non- corrupt democratic accountable way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: President Bush here at the White House this Sunday. Earlier today he did leave to attend church services nearby. Mr. Bush, we are told, will tell Prime Minister Sharon he could show some good will by lifting economic restrictions in place against the Palestinians for some time.

Also we are told, Mr. Bush will make the message to Prime Minister Sharon, "I know you don't trust Mr. Arafat. I know you don't like Mr. Arafat. Mr. Arafat is the leader of the Palestinian people. If we are to make progress toward peace right now, you must deal with him, like it or not. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Senior White House Correspondent John King, thanks John.

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