WASHINGTON'President Bush called on Israel Thursday to withdraw its military forces from Palestinian cities and cease all settlement activity in the occupied territories, and said he was dispatching Secretary of State Colin Powell to the region to push for a political settlement.
\Storms of violence cannot go on,"" Bush said in a Rose Garden speech delivered with an hour's notice. ""Enough is enough.""
He harshly criticized Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for failing to stop terrorism against Israeli civilians, and said, ""The situation in which he finds himself is largely of his own making."" But although Bush spoke sympathetically of Israel's right to defend itself, he said Israel ""faces some hard choices of its own,"" if peace is to be obtained.
Bush's statement marked an abrupt change from his long reluctance to directly and deeply involve his administration at the highest levels in seeking a political solution to the Mideast conflict'particularly before a cease-fire is conclusively achieved. It also was a recognition that the situation there has deteriorated markedly in the last week as Israeli troops and tanks have occupied most of the cities of the West Bank following a rash of deadly suicide bombings.
Bush said that Powell would seek ""broad international support for the vision I've outlined today,"" which basically followed the lines of a March 30 U.N. Security Council resolution for which the United States voted. It includes immediate moves by both sides toward a cease-fire; the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian cities, including Ramallah, where Arafat has been surrounded at his headquarters; full Israeli and Palestinian cooperation with implementation of previously agreed plans for political negotiations and a settlement; and an end to all terrorism and violence.
Although an end to Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip is included in the so-called Mitchell Plan agreed to by both sides last year, Thursday marked the first time Bush has publicly made that demand on Israel.
But while Bush implied that he also expected a quick withdrawal of Israeli troops that have occupied most of the West Bank cities over the past week, he mentioned no specific timetable. Current plans do not call for Powell to reach Israel until the end of next week. He had already planned to depart Sunday for meetings in Madrid and Berlin. Although White House officials said he would now likely bypass Berlin, he is also now expected to stop in Cairo, Riyadh and Amman before travelling to Israel.
While Powell is expected to meet with Arafat, the senior official briefing at the White House said that the secretary would also meet with ""other Palestinian leaders,"" noting that Powell would ""ask our Arab friends and others in the region to help us engage with all of the Palestinian leadership at every level.""
The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution 15-0 Thursday night giving its blessing to Powell's peace initiative and demanding the implementation ""without delay"" of a cease-fire and the withdrawal of Israel forces from Palestinian towns. The Bush administration agreed to support the resolution, introduced by Arab governments, after the Palestinians and Syria agreed to drop a demand for the ""immediate withdrawal"" of Israeli forces from Palestinian lands.
