Palestinian and Israeli security officials met with CIA
Director George Tenet at Jerusalem's King David Hotel Monday
night to discuss their responses to his cease-fire proposal,
but the gaps between the sides remain wide. Tenet met with
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Israeli security officials
Monday afternoon.
The Palestinians seem to be serious about wanting to reach a
cease-fire, CIA chief George Tenet and U.S. special envoy to
the Middle East William Burns told Israeli officials.
Israel's assessment is that the Palestinian Authority
continues to see violence as a strategic tool for achieving
its goals, and therefore views any cease-fire as strictly
temporary.
According to IDF Intelligence, the PA areas are still being
used as terror bases, and the PA is not doing much to
prevent or foil attacks, although they are said to have
prevented some attacks immediately following the night club
explosion in Tel Aviv.
PA Chairman Yasser Arafat also carried out a number of
administrative detentions for "preventative" purposes, he
said. However, the IDF emphasized that Arafat's moves were
only "superficial," and he is not seriously acting against
terror.
Arafat's actions after the Tel Aviv attack show that he is
in control of the territories, according to an IDF officer.
After the Tel Aviv attack, as a result of heavy pressure,
Arafat also did things that he previously could not do, such
as calling for a cease-fire in Arabic, he noted.
He said Arafat wants to restart the peace process, but at
the same time continue terror. Arafat also wants to
establish a basis for the internationalization of the
conflict and grounds for the right of return of Palestinian
refugees, he said.
Arafat is "very bothered" by the national unity government,
and the united front it is presenting internationally, he
said. European states are very interested in bringing calm
to the region, and if there is no unity in Israel and
opposition to Arafat, they are likely to put pressure on
Israel on the issue of the Palestinian refugees.
He also warned of the expanding involvement of Iran in the
region, especially in south Lebanon. The strategic aim of
Iran is to destroy Israel.
Bassam Abu Sharif, an adviser to Arafat, said the main
problem is that the American proposal does not treat the
cease-fire as part of the Mitchell report. The Palestinians
demand that it be part of a package deal. He said all the
Palestinian reservations were related to amendments to the
original Mitchell report.
Israel has accepted Tenet's plan, but wants it to include an
end to all violence, not just shootings from Area A.
According to the plan, presented to the sides at the first
round of security talks under Tenet's chairmanship on
Friday, the Palestinians are to arrest Hamas and Islamic
Jihad terrorists, put an end to incitement, and stop
assisting terror attacks against settlements.
The PA is also called upon to collect and destroy mortars
and missiles under its control, prevent individuals and
groups from Area A from attacking Israel, and not give
refuge to those who do carry out such attacks.
Israel is called upon to withdraw to positions it held
before the outbreak of the violence, not to attack
Palestinian targets, and to prevent revenge attacks on
Palestinians.
The plan also calls on Israel and the PA to renew regularly
scheduled security talks, resume joint patrols, and
reconstruct the liaison units set up under the Oslo
Accords.
The most problematic point for the Palestinians is the
demand that the PA rearrest Hamas and Islamic Jihad
activists ."We are not the Israelis' policemen to arrest our
own people," Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Ahmed
Qurei said, but added that once there is an agreement, the
PA would work hard to keep it.
In fact, those who were freed were guilty of crimes
including murder and according to the original Oslo
agreements they must be turned over to Israel. The PA has
argued that if it punishes terrorists it need not hand them
over to Israel, but this argument breaks down if they
release the terrorists.
Israel's main concern with the proposal is the lack of an
effective supervisory mechanism to ensure that the
Palestinians fulfill their commitments under the deal, which
include the arrest of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists and
the confiscation of illegal weapons. At the same time,
security officials said, Israel wants to ensure that any
supervisory mechanism does not become a means of introducing
international observers into the territories "through the
back door."
Meanwhile, Israeli officials expressed reservations about
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's planned visit
to the region next week. Israel fears that Annan is trying
to organize a reprise of last October's Sharm al-Sheikh
summit, which included representatives not only from Israel,
the PA and the U.S., but also from Egypt, Jordan, the
European Union and the UN.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is strongly opposed to this
idea, which he sees as a Palestinian attempt to circumvent
Israel's insistence that a cease-fire must precede
diplomatic negotiations.
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who met with Sha'ath in
Luxembourg Monday, also stressed that a cease-fire must
precede negotiations.
The weekly Israel Foreign Ministry survey of the world press
concluded that Israel's image abroad has improved as a
result of the Dolphinarium bombing and the subsequent
restraint, and the spotlight has been turned onto
Palestinian violence, along with questions about the ability
or willingness of the PA to implement a cease-fire.
According to this survey, there is now a "complete lack of
patience" for Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror, and in world
public opinion Arafat is on the defensive. In the US press,
Arafat is being unequivocally blamed for the violence.
Nevertheless, Palestinian attempts to draw comparisons
between Islamic Jihad and Hamas and the settlers -- such as
demands that Israel arrest pro-Kach activists in exchange
for an arrest of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists -- is
falling on fertile ground abroad.
