|
|
| By Reuven Koret June 12, 2001 |
|
| |
As a meeting of Israeli and Palestinian security officials with CIA Director George Tenet ended with disagreement, the latest victim of violence was laid to rest.
The Monday evening at Jerusalem's King David Hotel did not yield any breakthroughs. Tenet reportedly presented the parties with a slightly modified draft of his proposed cease-fire agreement, reflecting comments and suggestions offered by both sides in previous meetings. There were reports of shouting and wide gaps between the Israeli and Palestinian delegations as the evening concluded.
The Palestinians reportedly handed back the draft to Tenet. The Israeli delegation, ynet reported this morning, accepted the draft "despite reservations and pessimism concerning the chances of achieving a cease-fire." An Israeli government source said "the ball is in the Palestinian court." Arafat's response to Tenet "will bear witness to his sincerity in stopping terror attacks or not," according to Israel Radio.
Israel agreed to reduce the period demanded for a total end to terror attacks from eight weeks to six, cabinet secretary Gideon Sa'ar told IDF Radio this morning. And Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told US Secretary of State Colin Powell that Israel is ready and willing to carry out the requirements of the Mitchell Plan.
A source involved in the mediation meeting Monday night told CNN that the exasperated CIA chief presented the parties with an ultimatum: either accept his agreement without modification by Tuesday noon local time, or he would end his mediation effort and leave the region. Neither Israeli nor Palestinian delegations would officially confirm the existence of an ultimatum.
Huge gaps remain between Israeli, Palestinian positions
The Palestinians are seeking to tightly link the security mechanism of the proposed cease-fire agreement with diplomatic and political achievements such as a freeze in settlement construction, interpreting the Mitchell report as calling for such a linkage. The Israeli delegation insists that violence, including stone throwing, must end completely before any "confidence-building measures" can be discussed. The Israeli also demanded the arrest of Fatah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad militants and an end to incitement on Palestinian state-controlled media.
The Palestinians have tried to link actions against militants, including arrests and weapon confiscation, with the demand that Israel take parallel steps against settlers.
Israeli officials continued to deny that the Palestinian Authority had taken any significant steps to prevent terrorism in recent days. It was reported yesterday that senior Israeli Intelligence officer told the Knesset Security and Foreign Affairs Committee that the Palestinian Authority had helped foil three serious terror attacks in the past two weeks, but that anti-terrorist action and cooperation with Israel remained "superficial."
However, Deputy Defense Minister Dalia Rabin-Pelossof told Israel Radio this morning that the intelligence report was misunderstood, and that she is not aware of any recent terrorist attacks thwarted by the PA. She said that the intelligence source had reported only that the PA detained some people who had been associated with the Tel Aviv disco bombing and that in the past, not recently, the PA has thwarted some terrorist attacks.
Incitement to violence continues on PA-controlled media. The Middle East Media Research Institute released today a translation of the televised sermon of Sheik Ibrahim Madhi last Friday, a week after the Tel Aviv suicide attack. The sermon extended "blessings to whoever put a belt of explosives on his body or on his sons' and plunged into the midst of the Jews." He continued: "Just as the building collapsed over the Jews in their sinful dancing floor [referring to the collapse of a wedding hall in Jerusalem], I pray to Allah that this oppressive Knesset will collapse over the heads of the Jews."
Thousands throng to funeral amid cries for vengeance
Across town in Jerusalem, in a vigil that preceded the funeral, thousands of mourners paid their last respects to Yehuda Hayim Shoham z'l, the youngest Jewish victim of the current uprising. The five-month-old infant was struck in the head and mortally injured by a rock thrown at his family car in Samaria last Wednesday. Unconscious since the attack, he succumbed to his injuries at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem Monday afternoon.
The vigil was held opposite the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem. Prime Minister Sharon, who had visited the family in the hospital the previous day, addressed the attendees, saying that he had come "to cry with you, " not to make a speech. "Yesterday I stood next to the bed of Yehuda Hayim and caressed his hand. I found it difficult to part from him, he is just about the age of my twin grandsons," Sharon said. He blamed the killing of the infant on the Palestinian Authority and accused it of "wild incitement provoking hatred and terrorism."
There were angry calls for revenge and against restraint from some in the crowd. At several points the baby's father, Benny, pleaded with hecklers to allow Sharon to be heard. He called on Sharon to "take the correct and courageous decisions and forge ahead as you have done in the past and wipe out terrorism."
The prime minister asked continued forbearance despite the pressure to lash out: "If we ask every day - how long? - we shall lose. But if we know how to stand and clench our teeth, to continue even when tears fill our throats, we shall win," Sharon said, amid shouts of "enough restraint." He promised to visit the Shoham family during the shiva mourning period at their home in the settlement of Shilo in Samaria.
The funeral procession continued there, where the tiny body of Yehuda Hayim, wrapped in a prayer shawl and carried in the arms of a mourner, was laid in the ground and buried.
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
| |
|
|
