OTHER VIEWS

Hangin' Tough

I

join us for your choice of:

Fresh Mixed Green Sala _ d
Creamy Coleslaw
Roasted Beef w/Au Jus and Horseradish Sauce
• Bar-B-Que Ribs
Fresh Whipped Potatoes
Red Skin Potatoes
Garden Vegetables
Corn on the Cob
Garlic Bread
Fresh Baked Rolls
Black Forest Torte
Almond Torte
Brewed Coffee and Assorted Sodas

-•' )%4 0 51bit

Washington, D.C.
is not easy to admit, but I'm
glad that George W. Bush, and
not Bill Clinton, is in charge of
Middle East policy this week. I
have strong reser-
vations about
many other Bush
policies, but in
handling the
Arab-Israeli con-
flict, he seems
headed in the
right direction.
Bill Clinton
DOUGLAS M. was smarter, more
BLOOMFIELD articulate and
understood the
Special
issues, but his
Commentary
hands-on
approach and intense personal
involvement in trying to broker peace
became a liability.
His biggest mistake, and one shared
by Israeli leaders, was over indulgence
of Palestinian Authority leader Yasser
Arafat. Clinton's misplaced faith in
his own ability to bring Arafat around
through friendly persuasion con-
tributed to the present crisis.
The failure by both Washington and
Jerusalem to demand Arafat's compli-
ance with his commitments to abandon
violence, end incitement, confiscate ille-
gal weapons and round up terrorists
effectively told the old terrorist he could
get away with murder. Literally.
This administration is saying that
Arafat can no longer play the old rope-
a-dope, but has to produce results.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Barak buckled under intifada violence
and, ignoring his own rule, sweetened
his already excessive concessions that
were spurned at Camp David. It is
easy to understand why Arafat felt
that if he just intensified the killing,
the Israelis would soon give in to the
rest of his demands.
That strategy assured Ariel Sharon's
election as prime minister, and the les-
son was not missed on the new Bush
team, which had little appetite for for-
eign involvement to begin with.
No one knows how long the Bushies
will stick to his present course — they
may not know themselves. And it is
easy for Israel's supporters on the right
and left to find things to criticize in
what Bush has been doing so far. But
on the whole, he's to be commended.

Douglas M. Bloomfield, a former

executive director of the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee, is a writer
and analyst in Washington.

ITN

6/8
2001

36

RSVP by Monday, June 11th
Name and Phone Number and preferred seating time.

te sea

reservation a must!

The Clinton welcome mat that was
so abused by Arafat has been removed
by Bush. Arafat is persona non grata
here until he does something to
deserve an invitation.— namely meet
Bush's demand to tell his own people
"publicly and forcibly," in Arabic, to
"stop the violence" and show results.
The ever-cautious U.S. Secretary of
State Colin Powell is not anxious to
take the plunge into Clinton "over-
involvement." And he's unwilling to
repeat the humiliating experience of
his two Clintonite predecessors, who
wooed Arab leaders to excess — and
were treated like diplomatic doormats.
Instead, Bush-dispatched a reluctant
CIA Director George Tenet to get
Palestinian-Israeli security coordina-
tion back on track. Tenet has report-
edly told Bush he doesn't trust Arafat
or his security apparatus, which he
considers the problem, not the solu-
tion, in the battle against terrorism.
Arafat and his allies are demanding
more intense American involvement
because they want Washington to
force an agreement down Israeli
throats and ease the pressure on Arafat
for compliance and compromise.
The Administration is instead push-
ing its Arab friends, particularly prob-
lematic Egypt, to play a more con-
structive role.
There's been little pressure on
Sharon not to retaliate, Israeli officials
report, but Powell is encouraging
restraint by praising Sharon's patience.
Meanwhile, Powell is demanding
Arafat arrest those behind the disco
bombing and begin rounding up
known terrorists.
Powell also indicated the United
States is not asking for a total halt to
settlement construction, as the
Palestinians, their allies and the
Mitchell Report have demanded.
This week's lull in the violence
shows Arafat has a great deal of con-
trol — Washington and Jerusalem are
demanding 100-percent effort, not
100-percent results. Powell reportedly
threatened Arafat that failure to act
would risk a full break in relations
with Washington. Administration is
also considering economic sanctions.
The possibility of a powerful Israeli
military strike is a lever Washington is
using to try to convince Arafat that he
has more to gain by cooperating — a
lever the Clinton administration
would never have used, to the detri-
ment of the peace process.
Bush's aloof firmness in demanding
results from Arafat may be just what is
needed to end the killing spree. El

