After meeting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the
White House Monday, President Bush suggested that conditions
were not yet ripe for a ministerial Middle East summit
"because nobody has confidence in the emerging Palestinian
government" even after the "reforms" recently announced by
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer later clarified that a
conference on the Mideast was still expected this summer
though its contours still needed to be worked out. Bush also
seemed to some to accept Sharon's view that Palestinian
reform needed to precede peace moves but Fleischer said the
president believes the two must "go hand in hand."
Mr. Bush, who has yet to meet Mr. Arafat since he took office
but had his sixth session with Mr. Sharon on Monday, seemed
to agree with the Israeli leader's skepticism about
conducting political talks with the Palestinians until there
is significant reform of the Palestinian Authority.
Mr. Bush's comments were close to endorsing Mr. Sharon's
position and saying the current Palestinian Authority, under
Mr. Arafat, was not capable of engaging in political talks.
Mr. Bush did not attempt to dispute Mr. Sharon when the
latter said: "We must have a partner for negotiations. We
don't see yet a partner."
Mr. Arafat is virtually the only element left of the
Palestinian Authority. The PA does not wield much power in
either the West Bank or Gaza and it is not clear how
effectively it could stand up to the terrorists at this
point. Israeli leaders have said repeatedly that they do not
believe that Arafat is at all capable of building a suitable
political structure of control.
White House officials later clarified that the president was
not changing his two-month-old policy of seeking simultaneous
progress on improving security in Israel and a political
solution for the Palestinians.
Both the president and Secretary of State Colin Powell see
the conference "as one piece in a multi-piece process," the
White House spokesman said.
Prime Minister Sharon told Bush that the conference should
focus on stopping the terror and violence against Israelis
and on Palestinian reform, senior officials in his delegation
said. Arab states want a broader agenda focused on
Palestinian statehood.
Bush and other senior US officials -- having now consulted
with an array of Middle Eastern leaders -- are still
discussing when or where the conference will take place and
what will be its focus, Israeli and US officials said.
Sharon, according to Israeli officials, concedes that total
Palestinian reform is not a precondition for peace talks to
begin, only progress in that direction and an end to terror,
violence, incitement plus the availability of a suitable
Palestinian negotiating partner.
Bush, Fleischer said, still has to mull over the conflicting
views expressed by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and
Sharon. Mubarak has insisted a final peace deal be negotiated
along the 1967 armistice lines. Sharon rejects that border as
a starting point for talks.
The White House also endorsed Israel's incursions into West
Bank territory as a means of self-defense.
Bush outlined a series of reforms he expected from the
Palestinians including security steps, transparency when it
comes to economic matters, anti-corruption devices, and rule
of law enforced by a court system. The list was similar to
that outlined by Bush during a meeting with Sharon last month
at the White House.
Sharon, in his remarks in the Oval Office, reiterated his
view that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat is not
a partner for peace.
"At the present time we don't see yet a partner. We hope it
will be a partner there who will be able to move forward,
first to achieve durable peace in the area. And second of
course to provide security to the citizens of our countries.
And of course one of the most important things is how really
to take the steps to make the lives of the Palestinians and
other nations in the region better than they are now," Sharon
said.
Among the issues raised between Bush and Sharon were Syria's
support for terror, Israeli MIAs, the convicted Israeli spy
Jonathan Pollard, and Azam Azam, an Israeli who is serving
time in Egypt on what Israel says are trumped up espionage
charges.
After meeting with Bush, Sharon met separately with Vice
President Dick Cheney. Sharon had requested the meeting with
Bush to try to persuade the administration that the time was
not ripe to lay out a detailed timetable for Palestinian
statehood.
Sharon was also due to meet with Jewish American
organizational leaders. He was also scheduled to hold
meetings with senior officials on Capitol Hill. Sharon also
met with Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.
In Israel, two would-be Palestinian suicide bombers, the head
of Islamic Jihad in Ramallah, and 30 Palestinians affiliated
with Hamas, Tanzim, and Islamic Jihad were arrested by
soldiers and border policemen operating inside Ramallah since
the IDF entered Ramallah early Sunday morning.
Sunday afternoon security forces also discovered two cars
rigged with tens of kilograms of explosives ready to be used
in a terrorist attack against Israeli targets. Inside the
vehicles were found Israeli identity cards and Palestinian
Authority documents.
Israeli security officials said that, since the conclusion of
Operation Defensive Shield, terrorists have resumed
operations in Ramallah and were planning a number of
terrorist attacks. They said their operation came in response
to the failure of the PA to crack down on terrorists and
destroy the infrastructure.
Meanwhile, one Palestinian was killed and 40 wounded, eight
seriously, when bombs being prepared by terrorists exploded
in a three-story building in the Jabalya refugee camp in the
northern Gaza Strip late Sunday night. Many of the wounded
were women and children.
Monday afternoon security forces stopped a Palestinian
ambulance traveling on the main road between Gaza and Khan
Yunis for a routine check and arrested a Palestinian fugitive
inside pretending to be a patient.
On Tuesday morning a bomb went off near three 15 year old
boys walking in a field in Sde Calev, near Hebron. Two were
wounded seriously. They were with a group of 50 students from
the Yeshiva High School in Hebron.
