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U.S., Israeli alliance is tested
Angry words are traded over anti-terrorism diplomacy efforts
10/06/2001
By JIM LANDERS / The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON – Israel and the United States have a common foe in terrorism, but so far they are taking very different approaches in the battle.
And those approaches on Friday produced one of the sharpest clashes between the United States and its longtime Middle East ally.
President Bush ordered three aides, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, to rebuke Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Friday for "unacceptable" remarks comparing U.S. anti-terrorism diplomacy to European appeasement of Adolf Hitler.
Combat has precedence over diplomacy for the moment in Israel, where daily clashes between the Israeli army and Palestinians have shredded several cease-fire attempts.
Israeli troops backed by dozens of armored vehicles seized two Palestinian neighborhoods in Hebron on Friday, killing two gunmen and three civilians. An Israeli motorist was killed in an ambush, and a top Palestinian official vowed the uprising against Israel would continue despite leader Yasser Arafat's truce orders.
The Bush administration, meanwhile, is using diplomacy so far against Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network and is trying to build a coalition that includes Arab and Muslim states.
Mr. Sharon responded to the slap from Washington by thanking Mr. Bush for "the bold and courageous decision ... to fight terrorism." But he offered no apology for his remarks Thursday night, given in English, that concluded: "We can rely on ourselves only."
Israeli officials said Mr. Sharon was in part showing his surprise at Mr. Bush's statement Wednesday supporting a Palestinian state and other signs that Washington is exploring a new Mideast peace initiative.
They also said the Bush administration was skirting danger by talking with nations long considered sponsors of terrorism to see how far they are now willing to go to cut their ties to such groups.
"Look, it's OK to have these dalliances, to take all these countries to the dance, but don't forget who your allies are," Alon Pinkas, Israel's consul general in New York, said on the Fox News Channel. "Courting Iran and Syria basically is something we will all comprehensively regret tomorrow."
Talks with nations
U.S. or British diplomats have talked with Syria, Iran and Libya in the weeks since the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States. All three countries are on a U.S. list of nations considered sponsors of terrorism. All three condemned the September attacks but have not offered to support a U.S.-led coalition against terrorism.University of Maryland professor Shibley Telhami said the overtures make sense if they can convince hostile governments that terrorism is now a threat to them as well as the United States and Israel.
"What happened scared a lot of ordinary people who want a better life for their children, and who want to live in peace in the Middle East," he said. "When the middle classes in these countries reflect that, it may make these governments think twice about condoning terrorism."
Israelis, however, accuse gunmen with Hamas and Hezbollah – groups supported by Syria and Iran – of launching attacks against Israelis in recent days from Lebanon.
Both groups were left off a list of organizations that Mr. Bush released last month when he announced a financial crackdown on the al-Qaeda network and other suspected global sponsors of terrorism.
State Department officials said that Hamas, Hezbollah and several other anti-Israeli groups are listed as terrorist organizations by the U.S. government and subject to many of the same sanctions announced against al-Qaeda.
But Israeli officials were quick to point to differences in the punishments ordered against the groups that left out any overseas banks tied to Hamas and Hezbollah.
Mr. Bush's remark favoring a Palestinian state followed news reports that Mr. Powell was prepared to outline a new Middle East peace initiative but that the effort was disrupted by the Sept. 11 attacks.
"The prime minister has always stressed his desire to have open communications with President Bush, and that means not surprising each other," said an Israeli diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity. "In the last couple of days, that has not necessarily been happening."
The initiative mirrors a tactic used by Mr. Bush's father in building a coalition including Arab and Muslim states for the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq.
"One of the glues that held the Muslim states to the coalition was the promise that, as soon as the war against Iraq ended, the United States would push for a comprehensive peace in the Middle East," said Robert Oakley, who was U.S. ambassador to Pakistan during the war.
Troubled by violence
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, "The United States is not doing anything that would appease the Arabs at Israel's expense."State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the administration was "deeply troubled" by both Israeli and Palestinian actions in the last few days as a tentative cease-fire has fallen apart.
"The Palestinians have failed to do everything they can to prevent the violence against the Israelis, and we think the Israeli response, including the incursions into Palestinian territory, has been provocative," he said.
More than 10,000 Palestinian mourners paraded through Hebron on Friday in a funeral for those killed in the latest Israeli assault.
A leader in Mr. Arafat's Fatah movement, Marwan Barghouti, said the Palestinian uprising would continue. "This uprising didn't begin with a decision and will not end with a decision from anyone," he said.
Mr. Arafat's Cabinet again issued a call for order.
"Some of the Palestinian factions, by their actions, are deviating from the national interest and the national unity of the Palestinian people," a Cabinet statement said.
Sharon's remarks
Mr. Sharon on Thursday angered Washington by likening U.S. Mideast policy to that of Britain and France in 1938 when they allowed Nazi Germany to take over part of Czechoslovakia in exchange for a promise of peace that was quickly broken."Do not try to placate the Arabs at Israel's expense. We are not Czechoslovakia," Mr. Sharon told a news conference.
Mr. Sharon's remarks also point out differences between the war on terrorism and the war on Iraq, said University of Virginia professor Philip Zelikow, who was part of the U.S. national security team during the Gulf War.
In that war, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Shamir held back his military even as Iraqi scud missiles landed in Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities, relying on assurances that the U.S. military would do everything it could to stop the attacks and retaliate.
"Sharon is telling us he is not Shamir," Dr. Zelikow said.
Mr. Oakley said there's another big difference this time as well.
"It would be a mistake to go to the parties in the Middle East and say we know the answer right now," he said. "Nobody has the answer right now. It's a very, very nasty, complicated situation. ... We have to be more engaged. Not with solutions, but with a willingness to listen and seek solutions."