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CNN Saturday Morning News

Israel and the U.S. Involved in a Public Spat

Aired October 06, 2001 - 09:21   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.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: As the president tries to build this international coalition, a major target of the White House effort, moderate Arab nations. But as the president reaches out to the Arab world, some tensions and remarkably blunt exchanges back and forth between the United States and a long- time ally.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): A truce after a rare and blunt war of words between Israel and the United States. In a statement issued late Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon noted the, quote, "deep friendship and special relationship" between the two nations and saluted President Bush for a, quote, "bold and courageous decision to fight terrorism."

It was an about-face from a day earlier, when Sharon lashed out.

ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Do not try to appease the Arabs at our expense. This is unacceptable to us.

KING: What angered Washington most was Sharon's comparison to Europe ceding parts of Czechoslovakia to Hitler, suggesting that in its aggressive effort to court Arab nations for the coalition against terrorism, the United States was turning its back on Israel's security.

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: The president believes that these remarks are unacceptable. Israel can have no better or stronger friend than the United States, and better friend than President Bush.

KING: Secretary of State Colin called Sharon once to voice the president's displeasure, then again later, after the prime minister agreed to issue a conciliatory statement.

RICHARD ARMITAGE, DEPUTY SECRETARY STATE: The United States is embarking on a great campaign. We do need the help of Israel, and we hope things are put back in the box.

KING: But that there was a war of words between two longtime allies in the first place is a reminder of the extraordinary pressures of coalition building. As it courts Moscow, for example, the administration is softening its criticism of the Russian campaign in Chechnya. And perhaps the most important ally now is a Pakistani government that seized power in a military coup and has long supported Afghanistan's ruling Taliban.

JAMES STEINBERG, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I think the administration is walking a very delicate line in trying to maximize the coalition but also maintaining other important U.S. national interests.

KING: In Sharon's case, one senior Bush administration official said it was, quote, "justifiable frustration talking."

(on camera): This official went on to say, quote, "We have put a lot of pressure on him, and the Palestinians aren't exactly being helpful. But it was still the wrong way and the wrong time to pick a fight, and we made that clear."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Joining us now to discuss more of this, Zalman Shoval, the former U.S. ambassador from Israel and a foreign policy adviser to the prime minister. He joins us live from Jerusalem.

Good morning, sir, to you. Is this fight over, or will we see...

ZALMAN SHOVAL, SHARON FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER: Morning, John.

KING: ... ramifications in the days ahead?

SHOVAL: Well, it's history, as I think the White House spokesman said. And, you know, if you look at it, these are two straight shooters, and after some words and exchanges and probably misunderstandings, everything has been put right now. That's the most important thing. We are all in that together.

See, we never had any doubts, of course, that America is our staunchest and best friend in the world. And the president is, and it's also the other way around, Israel is probably -- certainly America's truest friend in this part of the world. There are some fair-weather friends, but the bonds between those two countries, America and Israel, are indestructible.

KING: The prime minister, though, sir, seemed to be voicing some resentment. The United States has pressured him to resume the dialogue with the Palestinians, Czechoslovakia, dramatic terms there. White House officials saying it was just to them shocking that the prime minister would suggest that the United States would turn its back on Israel.

SHOVAL: This was never the intention, and he never said America would turn its back on Israel. Nobody would even think about that. But it was a word of warning, I would say, to everyone, including to ourselves, that appeasement, whether it was Nazi Germany in 1938 or Palestinian terrorists at this time, is really counterproductive and could bring further violence in the future. Look, this was a certain cry from the heart. Every day, Israeli civilians, children, boys and girls, are being killed, brutally murdered. And there's a sort of feeling amongst people, Look, wait, now we have to deal with bin Laden. Of course America has to deal with bin Laden. We support that. We understand America's fighting a fight for the whole world, including Israel.

But we cannot look away from what's happening in this country. And I think that was the intention of Prime Minister Sharon when he said to the Palestinians, Look, don't make any mistake, we know how to defend ourselves, and we are going to defend ourselves. We are not going to be victims.

KING: You just used again, though, the word "appeasement." Do you believe the United States is guilty of appeasement, turning its eye away from abuses by the Palestinians that your government suggests are taking place in its effort to keep calm in the rest of the Arab world right now?

SHOVAL: No, definitely not. But it's the way some of the Palestinians or others in the Arab world perceive it. They think, erroneously -- this is not at all the intention of the United States -- but some of them have the perception, Well, America and the free world are now busy with bin Laden, so we can go on with our terrorist activity against Israel.

That's not the intention of the United States.

KING: I'm told, sir, there was a rather blunt conversation between the secretary of state and the prime minister yesterday, then a follow-up conversation that was slightly more pleasant. Any sense on your part that perhaps the prime minister and the president should have a conversation, if, as you say, we are to move on and put this chapter behind us?

SHOVAL: Well, we have already put it behind us, as the president himself, I understand, said. Yes, there should be conversations, not because of that, but because we are such close allies and close friends. There should be ongoing conversations, there's no doubt about that.

KING: Zalman Shoval, a foreign policy adviser to the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, and he's former Israeli ambassador to the United States. We thank you, sir, for joining us this morning to shed some light...

SHOVAL: Thank you very much.

KING: ... on an unusual public spat between the United States and its longtime ally, Israel.

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