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June 29, 2001/Tamuz 8, 5761, Vol. 53, No.39
Bush, Sharon differ on cooling-off period
MATTHEW E. BERGER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON - As Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon makes the rounds here and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell heads to the Middle East, Israel and the Bush administration are divided as to when Israel and the Palestinians should start on the next leg of the road back to peace talks.
Meeting with Sharon at the White House June 26, President Bush said the parties should discuss all opportunities to "advance the process" toward the cooling-off period advocated by a commission under former Sen. George Mitchell.
But Sharon said he believes that the cooling-off period should begin after 10 days without violence.
A senior White House official said the Bush administration disagrees, saying that movement to the cooling off period must be based on the reality on the ground, and when there is 100 percent effort by both parties.
"The fundamental question my administration makes is, 'Are we making progress? Is peace closer today than it was yesterday?' " Bush said. "We believe the answer is yes."
Earlier, Sharon was adamant in his call for an end to violence.
"One must understand that if last week we had five dead, it's like the United States, Mr. President, having 250 killed, or maybe even 300 people killed by terror," Sharon said.
Bush praised Sharon's patience and leadership and said he understood the pressure Sharon is facing.
In New York on June 25, Sharon had sounded a harsher tone, saying there had not been even one day of a real cease-fire, and describing Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat not as the leader of a state-in-the-making but as the "head of a terrorist gang."
Israel and the Palestinians differ on the duration of the cooling-off period that must separate fighting and diplomacy. Israel wants a six- to eight-week window of quiet, while the Palestinians say the diplomatic process must resume almost immediately.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States favors a shorter period than does Israel.
After Sharon's meeting at the White House, Powell left for the Middle East, where he is expected to try to salvage the cease-fire agreement reached earlier this month with the aid of CIA Director George Tenet.
A State Department official said Powell's mission will not be to create a timetable or declare that the cooling-off period has begun.
Sharon wants the United States to make clear to Arafat that the Palestinians can't have it both ways, talking about peace while continuing to attack Israelis.
Sharon will meet with Powell in Jerusalem. Israel is worried that Arafat is gaining credit with the international community for agreeing to the cease-fire, while Palestinian violence continues.
"We are very concerned that Arafat is playing a game," an Israeli official in Washington said. "The cease-fire has to be unequivocal."
Powell has said repeatedly that Arafat can not control all outbreaks of violence, and that he is seeking "100 percent effort" from the Palestinian leader, rather than 100 percent results.
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