Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 55, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 15, 2001 Page: 3 of 24
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IN OUR 55TH YEARI — THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2001 TEXAS JEWISH POST FCdtll TGS 3
Sharon’s Mission To U.S.: Cement Relationship
By James D. Besser
Ariel Sharon is due in town
next week for a round of
diplomacy and HASBARAH
that will be rich with oppor-
tunity for the new Prime
Minister to cement relations
with the Bush administration
- and full of risks if he sees
the visit as just a public rela-
tions exercise.
Sharon's evolving policies
could be surprisingly in
synch with an administration
that has its own shifting
Mideast agenda. And
despite his hardline past, he
will get a warm reception
from American Jews, thanks
in large measure to
Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat, whose return to vio-
lence has united a Jewish
community that was divided
over the peace process a
year ago.
But to turn his inaugural
visit into a long-term boost
for relations between the
two allies, he will have to
keep several points in mind.
Here are some unsolicited
suggestions for the visiting
Prime Minister.
* Reassure the President
that you are not about to do
anything drastic.
In many ways, Sharon and
Bush are reading from the
same Mideast page, despite
the prime ministers fear-
some reputation.
Like Sharon, the new Bush
administration has a dim
view of Arafat. Officials
here would like to see a
Ramallah
continued from page 2
blocks and tanks.
Some 1,500 Palestinians
joined a protest Monday
aimed at breaking the
Ramallah blockade. One pro-
tester was killed during clash-
es with Israeli troops.
The Palestinians claimed the
man was hit by live fire. The
Israel Defense Force said only
rubber bullets were used in
the incident.
Sharon defended the block-
ade, telling Likud officials
Monday that Israeli security
forces had recently arrested a
number of Palestinian terror-
ists who planned to carry out
a large-scale attack in
Jerusalem.
However, several members
of the cell are still at large in
diminished U.S. role in
negotiations; Sharon could-
n't agree more. Both are
concerned about an increas-
ingly bellicose Iraq.
Secretary of State Colin
Powell wasn't kidding when
he said he wants a more
regional framework for U.S.
diplomacy in the Mideast.
What the administration
fears the most is that Israel
and the Palestinians could
thwart that effort with a new
cycle of unilateral actions
and retaliatory violence.
Sharon may have consider-
able latitude with this
administration, as long as he
moves deliberately, with as
much consultation with
Washington as possible and
without bellicose rhetoric
aimed at his right flank.
One of the things that
makes officials here distrust
Arafat the most is his pen-
chant for saying one thing to
U.S. officials, another to his
constituents at home.
Sharon has to avoid doing
the same thing.
The Bush administration
values teamwork; part of
Sharon's job is to convey the
impression that he's willing
to be part of the U.S. team in
the region, or at least to
work with it.
* Work hard to create an
image of competence.
The Clinton administra-
tion liked the broad policies
of former Prime Minister
Ehud Barak but came to
doubt his ability to turn
Ramallah, Sharon said, and
Israel had to do what is neces-
sary to thwart an attack.
Sharon said the Palestinians
are responsible for the closure
on Ramallah, according to the
Jerusalem Post.
“If they really wanted to
make things easier for their
citizens, they would simply
deal with the network of ter-
ror, as they obligated them-
selves to do in all agree-
ments they signed to date,”
Sharon said.
Sharon said he opposes col-
lective punishment against
the Palestinian population,
which prompted him to lift
the closures in areas that have
been relatively quiet.
“I think that I made it very
clear that the policy of the
government will be to ease
the conditions of life of
Palestinians not involved in
them into solid gains at the
negotiating table.
What Washington wants
from Sharon is a leader who
doesn’t lurch from crisis to
crisis within his own gov-
ernment and who can
enforce discipline among his
ministers.
He should try to come
across as the CEO of a
mature democracy, not as
the president of a fractious
school student council - the
image Barak left behind. He
should stress his desire to
bridge the wide partisan
gaps in his government, not
be paralyzed by them, as
Barak was.
* Develop relations in
Congress - on both sides of
the aisle.
Sharon will have the ritual
meetings with the critical
House and Senate commit-
tees and congressional lead-
ers in both parties. He will
get a warm welcome, but he
shouldn't assume that is
enough.
Sharon needs to work dili-
gently to build a broad net-
work of personal relations
on Capitol Hill. He needs to
show the same qualities of
steadiness and reliability to
congressional leaders that he
does to President Bush.
Above all, he needs to
eschew divisive American
partisan politics.
During the last Likud gov-
ernment, former Prime
Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu often sought to
terror and violence, and hard-
en positions” against “terror-
ists and those who support
them and dispatch them,” he
told Israel Radio.
Some Israeli politicians
questioned the value of the
blockades.
Justice Minister Meir
Sheetrit, a dovish member of
Sharon's Likud Party, told
Israel Radio that “starving"
the Palestinians and depriving
them of essential services
would not serve Israel's inter-
ests and would only foster
support for terror.
Several senior Labor offi-
cials - including former gen-
erals Matan Vilnai and
Ephraim Sneh - said the
blockades would deepen
Palestinians' despair and
make them feel they have
nothing to lose, pushing some
toward terror acts. In addi-
pressure the Clinton admin-
istration by appealing to the
partisan hatred of Bill
Clinton among many
Republicans.
That undercut the biparti-
san congressional support
that has traditionally been
the cornerstone of pro-Israel
politics in this country - and
which Israel badly needs
when Israeli and U.S. policy
seems to clash.
* Pay more attention to
American Jews, and start
treating them as partners,
not irritants.
Barak thought that it was
enough that he espoused
policies that a majority of
American Jews supported.
He paid little attention to
hasbarah; he appointed an
ambassador to Washington
who excels in working with
the Pentagon, but who clear-
ly feels uncomfortable pro-
viding the emotional hand-
holding that Jews here need
when times get tough.
As a result, trust in Barak
slipped here as it did in
Israel.
Sharon starts his govern-
ment with an image that
troubles many American
Jews, but also with real
assets.
He is viewed as a hawk,
but he is also one of the last
living links to the generation
of heroes who built and
secured the Jewish state. If
he is judicious in his leader-
ship, he may enjoy a true
outpouring of support.
tion, they warned, the block-
ades hurt Israel's image inter-
nationally.
Also Monday, Defense
Minister Ben-Eliezer said he
would not use tanks and heli-
copters in attacks on
Palestinian areas, as was
occasionally done under for-
mer Prime Minister Ehud
Barak.
At Monday's Cabinet meet-
ing, the first since the new
Israeli government was sworn
in last week, Sharon set out
his principles for dealing with
the Palestinians.
Sharon said he would make
sure the Palestinians would
not succeed in squeezing con-
cessions out of Israel through
violence. Among other princi-
ples, Sharon said he would
not allow the conflict to spill
over to neighboring countries.
Israel's partial easing of the
But it will take some
doing. He needs to send his
best emissaries to work with
American Jewish groups,
and not just when there is a
crisis. He needs to create a
new atmosphere of shared
struggle starting in his own
inner offices.
* Don't get hoodwinked by
some of the American
groups that welcomed your
election.
Your Likud predecessor
sometimes paid more attention
to fervent Christian Zionists
than to American Jews.
Don't be mislead by that
support. Many of these
groups backed you because
they expect - hopefully
incorrectly - that your elec-
tion guarantees the endless
and intensifying bloodshed
that their "end-time" prophe-
cies demand.
Courting groups that ulti-
mately long for the destruc-
tion of the Jewish people,
even if they offer short-term
political support along with
their prayers, undermines
Israel's credibility in this
country and batters support
from American Jews.
And ultimately, it corrupts
the U.S.-Israeli relationship
because these groups abhor
a central goal of
Washington's Mideast policy
- an Israel that is both
secure and at peace with her
neighbors.
James D. Besser,
Washington Correspondent.
blockades came as Arab for-
eign ministers meeting in
Cairo appealed to the U.N.
Security Council to send
international forces to the ter-
ritories to protect the
Palestinians.
The Arab foreign ministers
met to prepare for an Arab
summit later this month that
is expected to focus on the
Palestinian uprising.
The ministers of the 22-
member Arab League, con-
vening Monday to discuss
the agenda for a March 27-
28 summit in Jordan, were
also expected to discuss
financial aid for the
Palestinians and consider a
resolution calling for Israeli
officials to be tried for
alleged war crimes.
Naomi Segal is a TJP/JTA
correspondent.
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Wisch, J. A. & Wisch, Rene. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 55, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 15, 2001, newspaper, March 15, 2001; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth754120/m1/3/: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .