A Deep Friendship

WEYMOUTH: What happened during your meeting with President Bush last week? SHARON: I must praise the president. I had a very good meeting and an important one with him. I expressed my admiration for his leadership in conducting the war against world terror. I was impressed by his detailed knowledge of what is happening in Afghanistan… I felt the deep friendship between the president and Israel, and it was very touching. I started with how I see the future. I laid out my plan of how to reach an agreement that will lead to peace.

Would that plan include two states? At the end of the process. But not now. Then I turned to the current situation and said what steps had to be taken in order to start to reach this solution.

What are these steps? The position of the government and myself is that Israel will not negotiate a political solution under fire. My approach goes through two phases. One is an armistice agreement that will provide a situation of nonbelligerency. Then the next step will be a permanent agreement. I believe in a gradual solution. There are problems to which there are no answers: the question of Jerusalem. I believe Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people and the capital of the state of Israel, united and undivided forever. Of course, the Palestinians don’t accept that. The other issue is the right of return of the Palestinian refugees.

To a Palestinian state or to Israel? To Israel, which is what they are demanding. We need to keep in our hands security zones which are crucially important. We have to go slowly and develop better relations between us and the Palestinians. Once steps are taken, they are irreversible.

Did Bush agree with you? I am not going to elaborate on this. But first of all there should be a full cessation of terror activities and incitement. The incitement affects the Israeli Arabs. It is so terrible that more and more Israeli Arabs are involved in terror. So the government of Israel decided to declare the Palestinian Authority a terrorist-supporting entity. This will enable us to hold it accountable.

It should be noted that some members of the government demanded during the cabinet meeting that the collapse of the Palestinian Authority should be brought about.

What did you say? At this point, we have not made such a decision. Although it’s hard to believe that one can get into an agreement with Arafat, who is a real terrorist himself, there are people in the Palestinian Authority who are more pragmatic.

So is it time for Arafat to go? We don’t have to do it. We are not going to act against Arafat personally.

People are asking why you don’t give them 48 hours to act. They had 72 hours and did very very little. They’ve arrested very few, and they are not in prisons. They are kept in private apartments.

What about the arrest of Sheik Yassin, the leader of Hamas? He’s under home arrest. We are attacking in order to motivate the Palestinian Authority to take action.

Shouldn’t President Bush warn the Palestinian Authority that the United States will break off relations if they don’t stop the terror? I think that President Bush and Secretary Powell and General Zinni are making every possible effort to put pressure on Arafat. We know that until Arafat sees himself completely isolated, he never takes any steps. Even then, the steps are for a short time…

I think that Arafat is an obstacle to peace. But we are not going to take any special steps against him. We restricted his movements in order to force him to take action. He’s free now but does not have time to go abroad.

Because the Israeli Army bombed his helicopters and tore up his airport? We learned that when he’s out of the country, the terror increases. Then he’s thought not to be responsible.

If Arafat does not act, will Israel remove him from the territories? If he does not act, we will act. When he doesn’t arrest, we arrest. Last night we arrested several suicide bombers in their homes. Maybe his time is over, but at the present time we believe we have to act along these lines.

Is it true that Hamas is now as strong as the Palestinian Authority? No, Arafat can control the situation. He just doesn’t make any effort. If Arafat would not be there, I don’t think Hamas would take over. I think more pragmatic Palestinian leaders would take over… I am 73 years old. I am not waiting for another political post. I have one ambition: to try and reach a political settlement that will lead to peace with the Palestinians. I have seen the wars, the battles, the agony. I would like to reach an agreement. I am ready to dedicate several years to that.

title: " A Deep Friendship " ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-23” author: “Tyree Kutscher”

Would that plan include two states? At the end of the process. But not now. Then I turned to the current situation and said what steps had to be taken in order to start to reach this solution.

It should be noted that some members of the government demanded during the cabinet meeting that the collapse of the Palestinian Authority should be brought about.

What did you say? At this point we have not made such a decision. Although it’s hard to believe that one can get into an agreement with Arafat, who is a real terrorist himself, there are people in the Palestinian Authority who are more pragmatic.

So is it time for Arafat to go? We don’t have to do it. We are not going to act against Arafat personally.

What about the arrest of Sheik Yassin, the leader of Hamas? He’s under home arrest. We are attacking in order to motivate the Palestinian Authority to take action.

Shouldn’t President Bush warn the Palestinian Authority that the United States will break off relations if it doesn’t stop the terror? I think that President Bush and Secretary Powell and General Zinni are making every possible effort to put pressure on Arafat. We know that until Arafat sees himself completely isolated, he never takes any steps. Even then, the steps are for a short time…

We restricted his movements in order to force him to take action. He’s free now but does not have time to go abroad.

Because the Israeli Army bombed his helicopters and tore up his airport? We learned that when he’s out of the country, the terror increases. Then he’s thought not to be responsible.