(Israeli Defense Minister Shaul) Mofaz: No more pullouts until action against terror

The Jerusalem Post ^ | 11 July 2003 | HERB KEINON and DAVID RUDGE

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(Israeli Defense Minister Shaul) Mofaz: No more pullouts until action against terror
HERB KEINON and DAVID RUDGE
Jul. 11, 2003

Israel will not withdraw from additional cities until the Palestinian Authority takes concrete steps against the terrorist infrastructure in Bethlehem and the Gaza Strip areas already under their control Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told his PA counterpart, Muhammad Dahlan, at a meeting at Erez on Thursday night.

The meeting lasted for two and a half hours with the two locked in a room alone for most of the time.

Israel is also unlikely to release any more Palestinian prisoners until Prime Minister Ariel Sharon meets with PA Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas after Sharon's return from visits abroad next week, according to Israeli officials.

According to the officials, the net assessment of the defense establishment is that the PA is currently involved in containment preventing attacks from taking place.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad also benefit from this containment policy, the official said, because they are using the tactical cease-fire (hudna) as a period to rebuild and reorganize, and they don't want Israel to have a pretext for once again going back on the offensive.

As a result, Mofaz demanded that the PA not suffice with containment, but begin dismantling and disarming the terrorist organizations. If this doesn't happen, according to Mofaz, then when the tactical cease-fire expires in some three months, the rejuvenated Hamas and Islamic Jihad will pose a threat not only to Israel, but also to the PA.

Israeli diplomatic officials, meanwhile, said that the growing tension between PA Chairman Yasser Arafat and Abbas should concern the US and the Europeans, since it shows that the transfer of power from Arafat to Abbas which they insisted upon was anything but complete.

At the same time, the officials said it is unlikely that Arafat will go so far as to depose Abbas, because if he does he will be seen by the world as the reason for the breakdown of the diplomatic process.

In a related development, Sharon entered the fray over whether Israel has won the current war with the Palestinians, telling a United Jewish Communities (UJC) delegation in Jerusalem that, "We will win this war when we have peace."

At the same time, he said, Israel has had some achievements in the conflict, particularly showing the Palestinians that it is not possible to defeat Israel through terrorism.

This, he said, raises hopes of eventually resolving the conflict.

Dahlan pressed for the release of more Palestinians held by Israel, including members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, in an effort to boost the status of Abbas, who is under fire from Arafat and those loyal to the PA chairman.

The meeting between Dahlan and Mofaz was the second this week and followed Abbas's threat to resign as premier after suffering severe criticism from Arafat and his supporters in Fatah.

Dahlan has also taken flak from some veteran Fatah loyalists who are anxious to see his powers eroded, as well as those of Abbas's whom they have accused of being amateurish and unprofessional in his talks with Sharon.

Senior sources in the defense establishment said Israel is fully aware of the problems facing the PA cabinet and its leadership and is committed to continuing the process started at the Aqaba summit in Jordan.

Nevertheless, the sources stressed that Israel's first priority is the security of its citizens, noting there has already been a terrorist suicide bombing inside the Green Line this week at Moshav Kfar Yavetz, in which 65-year-old Mazal Afari was murdered.

The security sources said Mofaz would insist the PA fulfill all its obligations under the Aqaba accords and that progress on the road map depend on its fight against terrorism and the disarming and dismantling of terrorist organizations.

According to the sources, Israel would not act with the tolerance it had shown over the Yavetz attack if there are any further terrorist attacks.

There is also deep concern in Israel and especially the defense establishment over what is seen here as the deep-rooted efforts by Arafat and his loyalists to undermine Abbas and, thereby, torpedo the road map.

The sources noted that the issue of the release of Palestinian prisoners is still subject to the recent decision of the cabinet and that there was no approval as yet for the renovation and reopening of Gaza's Dahiniye Airport.

According to reports, the Palestinians are preparing to renovate the airport, which has been closed since the outbreak of violence nearly three years ago, and would be able to have it operational in 21 days, once Israel gives the go-ahead.

According to a defense source, Mofaz told Dahlan to take responsibility immediately. "If you don't," Mofaz told the PA security chief, "there will not be any advancement on the road map, and no easing of conditions on the Palestinians." Mofaz also told him that both Israel and the Palestinians "must not let the extremists take control of the [peace] process."

The defense minister believes that, by not acting now against terrorism, Dahlan and the PA "are threatening the process." The defense establishment is worried that if the PA does not gear up to immediately tackle the issue of the Islamic terrorist groups, as well as the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, "Dahlan will lose control."

The source emphasized that "Israel is not in any way willing to compromise on the security of its civilians. We intend to stress, as we have done in the past, that security is our single most important demand."

Dahlan asked Mofaz for an IDF withdrawal from Ramallah and Hebron next, a PA source said. "Dahlan is meeting with Mofaz to keep the momentum of some progress, and we believe they can achieve some progress on the issue of prisoners and more IDF withdrawals," the PA source said.

Earlier on Thursday, Dahlan urged Israel to release more Palestinian prisoners and withdraw from more Palestinian areas to bolster the truce with Palestinian militants and strengthen the government of Abbas. He said he would pass that message on to Mofaz in their meeting.

"We are calling for the release of all Palestinian prisoners, and especially those prisoners who spent long years in prisons, including the ill and the elderly," Dahlan told reporters after a meeting with Egyptian mediators in Gaza. There are 460 prisoners in jail for many years for pre-Oslo accord offenses, he said, and "there's no justification anymore for those staying in jail."

The Palestinians also want Israel to release some members of rejections groups, especially Hamas and the PFLP, not only to convince these groups to maintain the cease-fire but also so Abbas can show to the public that he represents all Palestinians.

Palestinian officials said Israel could release at least 2,000 of the more the 6,000 prisoners it is estimated to hold, without releasing those "with blood on their hands." Palestinian sources said they expect Israel to agree to release more than the 350 prisoners the cabinet approved, including some linked to rejectionist groups.

A Palestinian official said the Americans understand the importance of the prisoner issue for Abbas, and that they are pressing Israel to make some more gestures to Abbas to strengthen him and Dahlan.

It is important for Dahlan to return with some progress from his meeting with Mofaz to discredit Arafat loyalists in Fatah who are trying to undermine him and Abbas, a PA source said.

"The American position is very good let us now see how Israel will act," Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr told The Jerusalem Post. "There is a hudna, the security situation has improved, the PA is arresting people who violate the hudna, there is less incitement... Let the Israelis pay back with some measures of their own," Amr said. "If they don't, it will be very difficult for Abbas's government to survive," he added.

Matthew Gutman and Lamia Lahoud contributed to this report.

[EGPWS]

According to the sources, Israel would not act with the tolerance it had shown over the Yavetz attack if there are any further terrorist attacks.

There's an old saying..."fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me". For the Israeli's it's "fool me once shame on you, fool me 112,843 more times, shame on the printers of the roadmap!

I've never seen so many one way streets on a map in my life. Good for Israel for sticking to their guns a little anyway. Their toleration level, to this point, is to be commended.

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[BenR2]

There's an old saying..."fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me". For the Israeli's it's "fool me once shame on you, fool me 112,843 more times, shame on the printers of the roadmap!

I've never seen so many one way streets on a map in my life. Good for Israel for sticking to their guns a little anyway. Their toleration level, to this point, is to be commended.

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Good point!