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President George W. Bush met with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the White House on June 26, 2001. (Reuters)
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| By Ellis Shuman June 27, 2001 |
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Prime Minister Ariel Sharon denied that his meeting yesterday with U.S. President George W. Bush in the White House was tense as a result of strong differences in the Israeli and American positions over the timing of the steps necessary to implement the recommendations of the Mitchell Commission report.
Sharon told reporters after the meeting that his talks with President Bush had been friendly and pleasant. "We had a very basic, comprehensive discussion," Sharon said. "I am not saying that we agree on all matters."
Sharon's statement underscored Israeli attempts to
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"Are we making progress? We believe the answer is yes"
- President George W. Bush
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minimize the glaring differences between the official Israeli and American positions, which were clearly evident at a press conference held before Sharon and Bush met in private session.
When asked by a reporter whether Prime Minister Sharon was expected to negotiate under fire, the President and his guest had two very different opinions on the present status of the cease-fire initiated by CIA Director George Tenet.
"I think that the cycle of violence must be broken," President Bush began, but quickly added that he would discuss with Sharon "what's realistic and what's possible." While applauding Sharon's patience and restraint, Bush appeared closer to the Palestinian position urging the immediate start of a proposed "cooling-off" period prior to diplomatic negotiations.
"Are we making progress? Is peace closer today than it was yesterday?" the President asked. "We believe the answer is, yes." The President added, "Progress is in inches, not in miles. But nevertheless, an inch is better than nothing."
Sharon reiterated Israel's stand, declaring, "Israel's position is that we can negotiate only, and we would like to negotiate only when there will be a full cessation of hostilities, terror, violence and incitement."
Sharon referred to continued Palestinian violations of the cease-fire accord when he said, "One must understand that if last week we had five dead, it's like the United States having 250 killed, or maybe even 300 people, killed by terror."
Sharon calls for 10-days of absolute quiet
"I made clear that when violence and terror are over, we will insist on 10 days of absolute quiet, and if there are 10 days, we will gladly move to a cooling-off period," Sharon told reporters after meeting the President.
At a briefing later, a senior Bush administration official did not endorse Sharon's 10-day demand. "We agree that there needs to be a period of calm," the unnamed official said, quoted in the Washington Post. "The timing of that, the sequencing, the time lines, are things yet to be worked out."
Despite attempts by Israeli and American aides to minimize their differences, the New York Times reported that "Washington's emphasis on Yasser Arafat's '100 percent effort' in reducing violence, compared to Israel's more demanding emphasis on '100 percent results' by the Palestinians, seemed to be more than diplomatic niceties."
Maariv reported today that a new, secret American initiative would place American observers in Israel and the territories with the purpose of dealing with complaints over cease-fire violations. Maariv states that the Americans believe this move would ease Palestinian demands for international observers and give them an address for their complaints. Maariv suggested that Israel would be receptive to the idea of having the Americans serve a dominant part in this cease-fire observing role.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell left Washington late last night to initiate yet another American effort to ensure the stability of the U.S.-brokered cease-fire. President Bush made it clear in his meeting with Sharon that he felt enough progress had already been made in easing regional tensions to send Powell on his Middle East trip. Some analysts hoped that Powell would announce the start of the "cooling-off" period during his visit.
It was obvious from Sharon's replies that Israel views Powell's trip in a different way altogether, with hopes that additional American pressure would finally force Yasser Arafat to honor the cease-fire agreement.
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