Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that he is working with
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Binyamin
Ben-Eliezer on a new diplomatic initiative to complement the
current military plan to restore security. On Monday
knowledgeable sources in the security services said that
there are no more senior terrorists at large in the
territories of Yehuda and Shomron.
The sources said that all of the "senior" terrorists, meaning
those with extensive experience and occupying leadership
positions, had been eliminated or arrested. Still, they did
not expect that this would completely eliminate terrorist
attacks, though they expected a continued reduction.
Sharon told the Likud Knesset faction the diplomatic
initiative would start with a series of measures to ease the
burden on the Palestinian population, as US President George
W. Bush requested in his Middle East speech last week. Sharon
said the moves would be coordinated with Bush, but he was
vague on the details. Unnamed sources have said that the
curfew may be lifted in the daytime and imposed only at
night.
"It's important for the initiative to be in our hands,"
Sharon said. "The time has not yet come to detail the steps
that we are taking, but I can say the efforts are already
under way in the thinking process about what path to take to
advance."
Sharon said Bush was right when he said that terror,
violence, and incitement must end and deep Palestinian
reforms must begin before actual negotiations can begin. But
he said his government would not just wait for the
Palestinians to do their part.
"Whoever thinks that after [Bush's] speech we will rest on
our laurels is wrong," Sharon said. "We want to be the ones
who start things off diplomatically, and a series of meetings
with the Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry have started
to that effect."
Spokesmen for both Peres and Ben-Eliezer said they had no
idea what Sharon was referring to.
The only specific details about the initiative Sharon
mentioned related to assisting the Palestinians' financially.
He said he told Bush stories of poor Palestinian laborers,
whose meager wages in Israel are taxed heavily by PA security
forces upon their return to the Gaza Strip.
"I gave clear orders last week how to ease the situation of
Palestinian citizens uninvolved with terror," Sharon said.
"The Palestinian population is suffering from PA corruption.
We are talking to contributing countries and relief agencies
to help out economically, and we will do our part by limiting
the extent of our closures of Palestinian towns."
In another gesture to Bush, Sharon announced for the first
time that he would prevent new outposts from being built in
Judea and Shomron.
"I don't think anyone needs to explain to me the need for
Jewish settlement," Sharon told the Likud faction. "The
residents of Judea, Shomron, and Gaza are the Jewish pioneers
of 2000. However, we must remember that Israel is a law-
abiding country. If in a certain place, people break the law,
we have to deal with it."
At a different meeting with reporters, Sharon was asked about
his refusal to allow Peres to meet with the Palestinian
leadership. He replied that the media had been
misinformed.
Meanwhile, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern
Affairs William Burns traveled to London for consultative
meetings on the Middle East with the other members of the so-
called "Madrid Quartet" the EU, Russia, and the UN.
Burns's quartet counterparts are Andrei Vdovin of Russia,
Miguel Moratinos of the EU, and Terje Roed-Larsen,
representative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
"They're going to review steps to support and implement the
president's vision for progress on security, institution
building and reform, economic reconstruction, and resumption
of an Israeli-Palestinian political dialogue," said US
spokesman Richard Boucher.
Boucher conceded that some of the other participants do not
agree with the US about ostracizing Arafat, but said they do
agree on other aspects of the new US approach.
"What people do agree upon is the need to move toward this
vision of a Palestinian state. What they do agree upon is
that both sides have obligations. What they do agree upon is
the need for reform, and support for reform in the
Palestinian community is an essential part of that," he
said.
President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt said on Monday that he
intends to dispatch emissaries to both Israel and the
Palestinian Authority in a new effort to contain the
dangerous situation in the region.
"I'll dispatch a representative to Israel and another to the
Palestinian Authority in the near future, because the
situation cannot continue this way, and I fear future
complications may lead to chaos in the region," Mubarak told
reporters in Cairo.
Analysis
From Sharon's perspective, things have progressed
significantly but there is still a long way to go. From the
start of his term of office, Sharon has tried to be in
control of events. Judging by his personal and military
style, Sharon's priorities are first to ensure that no one
else is initiating events, and second to try to get his own
initiatives implemented.
His suggestion two months ago for a regional conference, for
example, was not part of an elaborated plan, but rather a
thrust to control the flow events. It was successful in the
sense that it focused the world's attention and gave it hope
that there is progress towards a settlement.
The security situation, bli ayin hora, seems to be
manageable. The Palestinians of Gaza are contained, those on
the West Bank are under pressure. Though the motivation of
the terrorists remains high to carry out attacks, their
abilities have been severely crippled by the relentless work
of the IDF and the security services.
