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Ben-Eliezer apologizes for revealing Rice, Cheney remarks By Aluf Benn and
Nathan Guttman, Ha'aretz Correspondents, Ha'aretz Service and agencies
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=127658
Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer made a formal apology Friday to
senior members of the United States government after revealing to the press
comments made by Vice President Richard Cheney and National Security
Adviser Condoleezza Rice in his meetings with them, Channel One Television
reported.
Ben-Eliezer had told the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth that he was surprised
by the tough position senior Bush administration officials, including
Cheney, had taken against Arafat.
"On the subject, Cheney was more extreme than Rehavam Ze'evi," Ben-Eliezer
said, referring to the far-right tourism minister assassinated by
Palestinian militants last October. "The vice president told me: 'As far as
I am concerned, you can also hang him [Arafat]'."
Channel One also reported that the defense minister made personal phone
calls of apology to Rice and Cheney after telling Israeli reporters
Thursday that they had said that there was no point in Israel having talks
with Palestinian Arafat.
However, the report said, Ben-Eliezer did not manage to reach either of the
two, and spoke only with their aides. Cheney is extremely angry over
Ben-Eliezer's remarks and has refused to talk to him directly, Channel One
reported.
A statement by the defense minister said that he had never attributed such
remarks to the vice president. "I also want to make clear that no White
House official told me that it's a waste of time dealing with Arafat,"
Ben-Eliezer said.
A senior U.S. administration official, insisting on anonymity, said Friday
that Rice and Cheney "didn't say anything in private which the president
hasn't said in public."
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said of the Arafat statement attributed
to Cheney: "It's a fantasy." He said the same characterization applies to
any purported comment by Rice that there was no point talking to Arafat.
Sharon to Bush: Pressure on Arafat must be stepped up
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told President George Bush during their meeting
in Washington on Thursday that pressure had to be stepped up on Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, in order to facilitate the emergence of
an alternative Palestinian leadership.
According to Sharon, as Arafat's standing diminishes, the motivation of
those who are meant to fight terror will increase. A new leadership, the
prime minister believes, does not emerge instantly, but will take time to
develop. This period of time will be determined by the degree of pressure
exerted on Arafat. "The heavier the pressure is," Sharon said, "the shorter
will be the battle against terror and the time it takes to create an
alternative leadership."
Yasser Arafat "is not a partner, won't be a partner and is irrelevant,"
Sharon said after meeting U.S. President George Bush.
This is a change in Sharon's view: Last week, in several interviews, he
said that Arafat could be a partner if he fulfills Israel's demand to fight
terror.
Sharon, whose meeting with Bush lasted 45 minutes, also said that his
meeting last week with senior PA officials Abu Mazen, Abu Ala and Mohammed
Rashid, was part of a plan to pressure Arafat. He said he would be prepared
to meet them again if they wanted: "This is so that they will get used to
the fact that we don't talk to him [Yasser Arafat], but with others we do,"
Sharon said.
Bush sidestepped all questions about whether Arafat might be replaced, or
whether the U.S. planned to sever ties with him. The president said that he
had promised that the United States would continue to pressure Arafat to
take steps to reduce acts of terror.
Bush added that he was very disappointed by the Karine-A arms ship affair.
The ship, he said, was loaded with weaponry, for one purpose and that was
to sow terror.
Bush did not accede to Israel's desire that organizations under Arafat's
direct control, such as Force 17 and Tanzim, be included on the list of
terror groups.
Bush also told Sharon that there was an urgent need to try and put the
Tenet and Mitchell plans into effect, while Sharon reiterated that Israel
was committed to both plans.
Asked about his view on the establishment of a Palestinian state, Sharon
said that, "at the end of the process I believe there wil be a Palestinian
state, but only at the end, and it won't be established through terror."
Sharon, in effect, was rejecting a truce-to-talks plan drafted by Foreign
Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian Parliament Speaker Abu Ala, whereby a
Palestinian state would be declared shortly after a cease-fire had gone
into effect, as part of the effort to douse the violence and reach a
diplomatic settlement.
Bush to give $300 million to support Palestinians
During the meeting, Bush raised his concerns about the distress of the
Palestinian population in the territories who are not involved in terror.
Bush spoke of "harsh pictures, of starvation, of a mother and father who
can't send their children to school."
Bush said that the U.S. would allocate $300 million, through
non-governmental organizations, to assist the Palestinians.
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