Bush and Israeli PM Meet
June 26, 2001 -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today met with President Bush and demanded a 10-day period of calm in the Middle East before he will agree to a cooling-off period.
"I made clear that when violence and terror are over … we will insist on 10 days of absolute quiet, and if there are 10 days, we will gladly move to a cooling-off period," he told reporters.
The cooling-off period is the prelude to "confidence-building measures" aimed at setting the stage for eventual peace negotiations, under a blueprint drawn up by a committee led by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell.
Before the meeting, Bush struck a more optimistic tone, pushing the prime minister toward a compromise. "Both parties will understand when hostilities have declined enough for the process to continue. We want to make sure that there's a realistic assessment of what's possible on the ground," he said.
The president was also encouraging. "We cannot let violence take a hold. I admire the prime minister's restraint," he said. "Progress is being made."
Quiet About Expectations
The White House downplayed the significance of today's meeting as Secretary State Colin Powell heads to the Middle East for a three-day tour.
"This is not a meeting where there are big proposals or a big plan," a U.S. official told Reuters. "This is part of the process of moving down that timeline that everybody has talked about with the Mitchell report recommendations."
The meeting was the second between the Bush and Sharon. Bush has yet to meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Almost 600 people, mostly Palestinians, have been killed since a new wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence began in September.
A Strike for, a Strike Against
As the talks between Bush and Sharon geared up, Israel took action on both Jewish and Palestinian extremists.
Israel's normally secretive Shin Bet security service released a picture of a young Palestinian man who it says was at the center of a frenzied mob's attack on two Israeli soldiers eight months ago.
According to Shin Bet, Aziz Salha, 20, is the man who was pictured thrusting his bloodied hands out a Ramallah police station window as a signal to crowds below that they had killed the soldiers.
Today, Salha appeared on the front pages of Israeli newspapers with his hands held high in a similar fashion — but in Israeli handcuffs.
The picture was apparently staged by Shin Bet to drive home the message that Israel is relentless in hunting down terror suspects.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer announced plans to raze 15 illegal outposts established by Jewish settlers in the West Bank by next week.
Jewish settlers have been setting up homes and sheds at several points in the West Bank since Sharon was elected in February. Sharon has been a longtime supporter of the settlers.
The defense minister justified the actions by saying they were designed to protect the settlers, since many of the isolated outposts could not be guarded.
According to a U.S.-sponsored cease-fire plan, Israel is required to halt all settlement construction as part of confidence-building measures leading to the resumption of peace talks.
ABCNEWS' John Berman and Terry Moran in Washington contributed to this report.