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CNN Sunday Morning
Israeli Army Plans to Stand Down at Arafat's Headquarters
Aired September 29, 2002 - 07:04 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Plans are in the works for the Israeli army to stand down from its siege of Yasser Arafat's West Bank headquarters. CNN's Jerrold Kessel joins us live from Jerusalem with those details. Good morning, Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Anderson. Yes, the Israeli tanks and troops who have been installed and besieging Yasser Arafat in his Muqataa headquarters in the town of Ramallah are going to be withdrawn forthwith, so according to a decision taken by a special Cabinet forum of Ariel Sharon's government this morning.
Now, whether the redeployment of the Israeli tanks and troops really amounts to a total ending of the siege of Mr. Arafat's headquarters or merely an easing of that siege remains to be seen, but what is already absolutely clear is that this Israeli decision was the result of U.S. pressure.
Let me show you the headline in the leading Israeli newspaper, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) this morning, already -- before the decision by the Cabinet -- it said: "President Bush in a Message to Sharon: You Are Disturbing Us," and the report going on to say and this confirmed to us that this was, in fact, the gist of the message anyway from the United States to Israel, that that disturbance must end forthwith, so the Israelis are about to pull their troops out of the Ramallah headquarters of Yasser Arafat.
Now, of course, the disturbance referring to the fact that the U.S. believes that Israel, by focusing attention in this way on Yasser Arafat, getting the pressure on Israel to desist from this, as is deflecting the U.S. from its attention on what it wants to do and what it plans to do with regard to Iraq. And the Israelis say they will withdraw their troops. In a way, perhaps this is only a face-saving statement, but they say that we will withdraw in a way that they will be in a position to monitor what happens to the people who they regard as terrorists, who they say are wanted by them in those -- in that headquarters with Yasser Arafat. If they come out, they will be arrested.
They are clearly, in that Israeli statement, acknowledging another basic and broader interest: The fact of what they call their strategic -- the enhancing a strategic alliance with the United States, and that Israel will do everything it can to enhance that and to support the United States in its war on terror and in its war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq. So a change in the Israeli position, under the pressure from the United States. The Palestinians, however, saying they fear this is only a sham and it will amount to a cosmetic pressure. The Israelis will simply withdraw their tanks outside the headquarters and maintain the siege on Yasser Arafat. Remains to be seen whether they will do that, and whether that will be enough, if that's what they'll do, for the United States, or there will be further pressure on Mr. Sharon's government -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Jerrold Kessel, thanks very much, 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 September 29, 2002 - 07:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Plans are in the works for the Israeli army to stand down from its siege of Yasser Arafat's West Bank headquarters. CNN's Jerrold Kessel joins us live from Jerusalem with those details. Good morning, Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Anderson. Yes, the Israeli tanks and troops who have been installed and besieging Yasser Arafat in his Muqataa headquarters in the town of Ramallah are going to be withdrawn forthwith, so according to a decision taken by a special Cabinet forum of Ariel Sharon's government this morning.
Now, whether the redeployment of the Israeli tanks and troops really amounts to a total ending of the siege of Mr. Arafat's headquarters or merely an easing of that siege remains to be seen, but what is already absolutely clear is that this Israeli decision was the result of U.S. pressure.
Let me show you the headline in the leading Israeli newspaper, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) this morning, already -- before the decision by the Cabinet -- it said: "President Bush in a Message to Sharon: You Are Disturbing Us," and the report going on to say and this confirmed to us that this was, in fact, the gist of the message anyway from the United States to Israel, that that disturbance must end forthwith, so the Israelis are about to pull their troops out of the Ramallah headquarters of Yasser Arafat.
Now, of course, the disturbance referring to the fact that the U.S. believes that Israel, by focusing attention in this way on Yasser Arafat, getting the pressure on Israel to desist from this, as is deflecting the U.S. from its attention on what it wants to do and what it plans to do with regard to Iraq. And the Israelis say they will withdraw their troops. In a way, perhaps this is only a face-saving statement, but they say that we will withdraw in a way that they will be in a position to monitor what happens to the people who they regard as terrorists, who they say are wanted by them in those -- in that headquarters with Yasser Arafat. If they come out, they will be arrested.
They are clearly, in that Israeli statement, acknowledging another basic and broader interest: The fact of what they call their strategic -- the enhancing a strategic alliance with the United States, and that Israel will do everything it can to enhance that and to support the United States in its war on terror and in its war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq. So a change in the Israeli position, under the pressure from the United States. The Palestinians, however, saying they fear this is only a sham and it will amount to a cosmetic pressure. The Israelis will simply withdraw their tanks outside the headquarters and maintain the siege on Yasser Arafat. Remains to be seen whether they will do that, and whether that will be enough, if that's what they'll do, for the United States, or there will be further pressure on Mr. Sharon's government -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Jerrold Kessel, thanks very much, 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
