ABYSS from page 23

Israel Insight

there previously had been an
decided Monday that Israel
unspoken understanding that
would not take out Palestinian
THE ISSUE
political
figures on the
elected officials — a signal
After seemingly countless nights in
Palestinian
side were immune
that Arafat was not a target.
recent months of Palestinians
from assassination attempts.
Escalation continued
shooting at the Jerusalem neighbor-
Zabri returned to Ramallah
Monday night, when Israeli
hood of Gilo, the Sharon govern-
from Damascus in 1999 with
tanks and armored personnel
ment took decisive action this
Israel's tacit consent.
carriers rolled into the
-week. Tanks were moved into the
His killing immediately
Christian town of Beit Jalla
village of Beit Jalla, the source of
triggered
two reactions that
after Palestinian gunmen had
the shooting. Many asked why it
Israelis
found
troubling:
raked the Jerusalem neighbor-
took the government so low:, to
• PFLP spokesmen vowed
hood of Gilo with fire for
respond forcefully to the attacks.
to take revenge against Israelis
hours, injuring one Israeli.
and Israeli targets everywhere.
The move made good on
BEHIND THE ISSUE
Veteran observers here
Israel's warning several weeks
Thousands of Jerusalemites live in
recalled the organization's
ago, after a particularly vigor-
spectacular attacks during the
Gilo,
a
southern
neighborhood
ous day of Palestinian shoot-
1970s, on planes, embassies
built
after
the
Six
Day
War.
(While
ing on Gilo, that Israel would
some Palestinians call the neighbor-
and airports around the
no longer allow a residential
world, as well as its more
hood a settlement, the Israeli con-
neighborhood of its capital to
recent involvement in car
sensus is that it is an integral part of
be turned into a shooting
bombings in Israeli cities.
Jerusalem.) The Sharon government
gallery.
was
hesitant
to
enter
Beit
Jalla,
fear-
• Other Palestinian militant
Unlike previous incursions
groups,
including the funda-
ing
international
condemnation
if
into Palestinian-controlled ter-
mentalist
Hamas and Islamic
one
of
the
Christian
town's
many
ritory, however, the troops
Jihad,
urged
unity and joint
shrines
were
damaged.
But
the
con-
seized several buildings over-
action against Israel, despite
stant shooting, and the fear of an
looking Gilo and dug in.
escalation (mortars fired from Beit
the deep ideological differ-
Taken together, the two
ences between such groups
Jalla landed in Gilo on Tuesday,
Israeli actions were considered
and the Marxist-secular PFLP.
including one that landed near the
a significant escalation by
The IDF's actions came
community
center),
led
to
the
many observers, and certainly
after
a series of grave inci-
stronger
Israeli
army
reaction.
by the international commu-
dents
over the weekend.
—Allan
Gale,
Jewish
Community
nity.
Early
Saturday morning,
Council
ofMetropolitan
Detroit
On Tuesday, for instance,
two Palestinian gunmen shot
the United States called on
their way into an IDF post in
Israel to withdraw from Beit
the Gaza Strip and killed a major and two soldiers.
Jalla.
Seven other Israeli soldiers were wounded before
The next day, there was the possibility that the
one of the gunmen was himself shot dead. The
Gilo-Beit Jalla crisis might be defused. Foreign
other escaped, but was hunted down later and
Minister Shimon Peres announced that Israel and
killed.
the Palestinian Authority had reached a cease-fire
That same night, a family of five was ambushed
agreement covering Gilo and Beit Jalla. He made
on the highway from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. The
the announcement after speaking by phone with
parents, Sharon and Yaniv Ben-Shalom, and the
Arafat.
mother's young brother, Doron Sabari, were killed.
Given Arafat's track record of ignoring cease-
The Ben-Shaloms' two baby girls survived with
fires, however, in the first hours after the
light injuries.
announcement Israeli officials said they were view-
The next day, a Netanya businessman, Dov
ing the agreement cautiously. Ben-Eliezer told
Rosman, was shot dead as he did some business
troops Wednesday afternoon they should expect to
with a Palestinian just inside the West Bank near
spend at least one more night in Beit Jalla.
Tulkarm.
Earlier Wednesday, Palestinians fired at least two
On Monday, a father of five, Meir Linksberg of
mortar bombs at Gilo. Israeli police said one of
the West Bank settlement of Itamar, was shot dead
the mortars slammed into a roof of an apartment
while driving on a road in the West Bank.
building, wrecking solar water heaters but causing
On Tuesday, Israeli police arrested what they
no injuries. The other exploded in an empty field.
said
was a three-man cell on its way to carry out a
Also on Wednesday, Israeli tanks and bulldozers
terror attack in the Negev city of Beersheba.
seized a main road to seal off Rafah in the south-
On Wednesday, there was yet more bloodshed
ern Gaza Strip. During the operation, Israeli forces
when an Israeli truck driver was shot and killed at
shot dead a Palestinian policeman who was
close range in a terrorist attack near the West Bank
believed to work also for a militant group. Israel
city of Nablus. Oleg Sotnikov, 35, of Ashdod, was
seized the area after Palestinian gunmen repeatedly
driving a fuel truck unescorted Wednesday on an
fired on nearby army positions.
isolated road where Palestinian gunmen had
threatened attacks.

❑

Palestinian Strikes

The slaying of Zabri on Monday was particularly
unnerving to the Palestinian leadership because

8/31
2001

24

Bush Takes
A Stand

MAI I HEW E. BERGER

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Washington
resident Bush may have walked into
the White House proclaiming the
United States an "honest broker" in
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but
Arab officials warn that with each comment
blaming Palestinian Authority leader Yasser
Arafat for Mideast violence, the United States is
undermining its effectiveness as a mediator.
Recent comments by Bush and Vice President
Dick Cheney have placed the bulk of responsi-
bility for ending the 11-month-old violence on
the shoulders of Arafat, while showing more
empathy for Israel's situation.
Last Friday, in his most expansive comments
to date, Bush spoke little about Israel's responsi-
bilities, instead focusing on what Arafat needs
to do.
"The Israelis have made it very clear that they
will not negotiate under terrorist threat," Bush
told reporters. "And if Mr. Arafat is interested
in having a dialogue that could conceivably- lead
to the Mitchell process" — a series of diplomat-
ic steps outlined by an international commis-
sion under former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell
— "then I strongly urge him to urge the terror-
ists, the Palestinian terrorists, to stop the sui-
cide bombings, to stop the incursions, to stop
the threats."
The administration's stance has been con-
demned by Arab leaders, who say the United
States is acting on behalf of Israel.
"We have now a full and absolute American
bias," Palestinian spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi
said. "An American president is parroting the
Israeli point of view."
These statements are a far cry from the high
hopes that the Arab world once held for the
Bush administration, given what it saw as the
more even-handed Mideast policy of Bush's
father during his term as president — and the
close ties between members of the present Bush
administration and oil interests in the Arab
world. Indeed, most Arab Americans gave Bush
their support in the 2000 election.
Because many of Bush's and Cheney's com-
ments seem unrehearsed rather than vetted,
there is growing speculation that Bush's
renewed embrace of Israel is driven not by what
is best for the region but by domestic political
goals — specifically, courting the American
Jewish community and other groups that sup-
port Israel.
But some Israeli advocates say Bush simply is
doing what he said he would — assessing the
situation in the Middle East independently

.

❑

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