 |
 |
 |
|
|
President George W. Bush (R) with CIA Director George J. Tenet at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Virginia (Reuters)
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By Ellis Shuman July 25, 2001 |
|
| |
The United States has indicated that any additional CIA personnel it sends to Israel and the Palestinian territories would not serve as substitutes for an international observer force as recommended by the G-8 summit. The American position undermines recent Israeli willingness to increase the CIA presence in the region in lieu of an international force.
A spokesman for the U.S. Department of State told reporters yesterday that the proposed role of the international observers should not be confused with that of the CIA. "We are concentrating on bringing an end to the violence in order to proceed with the implementation of the Mitchell Commission recommendations," he said, referring to the CIA's role in security coordination between Israel and the Palestinians.
On Monday the United States confirmed it was discussing with Israel and the Palestinians the possibility of increasing the number of CIA personnel assigned to help calm violence in the Middle East but that no decision had been made.
From the start, American officials were quick to play down the possibility that CIA personnel could fill the role of international monitors as Israel suggested. An unnamed American official told Reuters, "It's probably more Israeli trial balloons or dodging the monitoring question."
According to American officials, the United States is concentrating on efforts to implement the Mitchell recommendations and is only relating now to the issue of monitoring because of interest in the press and the recent G-8 summit.
Senior Israeli officials expressed surprise at the American statement, which would increase the CIA presence while leaving in place the call for an international force. An unnamed official quoted in Maariv today said, "The G-8 closing statement did not refer to the sending of international supervisors, but rather to the creation of a third party that would be active in this area. If Israel accepts such a third party? it would only be CIA representatives and nothing further than that."
Israel willing to accept increased American role
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stated his willingness Monday to accept CIA representatives as monitors in the region. "I don't see any problem with additional American observers," Sharon told a meeting of the Knesset's Security and Foreign Affairs Committee. "There will be no international observers, and no international force," Sharon insisted.
Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres reiterated Israel's position that it was against "internationalization" of the conflict by allowing foreign observers to become involved in ways other than those already called for under the truce drawn up by CIA Director George Tenet last month. "If you have a group of observers, it may be a beginning of internationalization," Peres told reporters on Monday.
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Army Radio on Monday that there already was an existing mechanism for observing and monitoring the cease-fire. "This mechanism is headed by the CIA with representatives from Israel and representatives from the Palestinians ... I don't mind if they expand this with a greater presence of CIA people who will be there and monitor."
Ben-Eliezer was referring to the treaty monitoring mechanism set up after the Wye River Memorandum was signed in 1998. A trilateral security committee, composed of Israeli, Palestinian and CIA officials, was charged with monitoring the complaints of violations of the peace accords by both sides. This committee became ineffectual with the eruption of the recent violence. The Tenet Plan calls for its resurrection and meetings at regular intervals. Recent security coordination meetings between Israeli and Palestinian officials, with the participation of CIA representatives, have been unable to make progress.
The role of Europe and UNIFIL
Sharon told the Knesset committee yesterday that the arrival of additional American observers would be in Israel's best interests, and that "it would get the European Union off [Israel's] back."
European Union foreign affairs officer Javier Solana yesterday called for international observers to help end the hostilities in the Middle East. "Let me say that we have been in favor of the cooperation that a third party can offer," Solana said, before meeting with Sharon and Peres in Jerusalem.
Peres told Solana at their meeting that UNIFIL was an excellent example of the inefficacy of international observer forces. "They are not allowed to see, they are not allowed to prevent and they are not allowed to report," Peres said. Peres then asked Solana, "Why are they needed?"
Despite the ongoing controversy over the UNIFIL videotape filmed after the Hizbullah kidnapping of three IDF soldiers in October 2000, Israel plans to inform the United Nations that it supports extending the force's mandate. According to a report today in Ha'aretz, Foreign Affairs Ministry officials believe the UNIFIL's presence saves Israel from direct contact with the Hizbullah and allows Israel to prove that it continues to abide by UN Security Council Resolution 425 while other sides violate and contest the international border.
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
