Prime Minister Ariel Sharon spoke last night with US Secretary of State Colin Powell and briefed him on yesterday\'s attack near Kerem Shalom in which four IDF soldiers were killed. Sharon said that the assault was the direct result of Arafat\'s failure to uproot the terrorist infrastructure. Prime Minister Sharon said that whoever thought that agreements between Arafat and the terrorist organizations would make it possible to control the latter, was mistaken.
Regarding the massive arms shipment which the PLO attempted to smuggle into Gaza last week, Powell phoned Arafat and said that an Israeli delegation to Washington presented compelling evidence the Palestinian Authority was behind the transfer. Powell refused to accept Arafat\'s denial. Prime Minister Sharon said last week that the arms freighter \"casts doubt on any agreement that might be signed with the PLO.\"
Powell told Sharon that US Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni would return to Israel in a week to work towards negotiations based on the principle of Israel conceding land to the Arabs in exchange for promises of peace from Arafat. The Israeli-PLO Security Coordinating Committee will convene today to discuss beginning the Tenet timetable, as a step in the direction of implementing the Mitchell Plan. Amongst other things, the Mitchell Plan calls for total cessation of construction in Jewish towns in Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza).
Prime Minister Sharon expressed to Powell his regrets over the crash of a US plane in Pakistan.
Regarding the massive arms shipment which the PLO attempted to smuggle into Gaza last week, Powell phoned Arafat and said that an Israeli delegation to Washington presented compelling evidence the Palestinian Authority was behind the transfer. Powell refused to accept Arafat\'s denial. Prime Minister Sharon said last week that the arms freighter \"casts doubt on any agreement that might be signed with the PLO.\"
Powell told Sharon that US Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni would return to Israel in a week to work towards negotiations based on the principle of Israel conceding land to the Arabs in exchange for promises of peace from Arafat. The Israeli-PLO Security Coordinating Committee will convene today to discuss beginning the Tenet timetable, as a step in the direction of implementing the Mitchell Plan. Amongst other things, the Mitchell Plan calls for total cessation of construction in Jewish towns in Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza).
Prime Minister Sharon expressed to Powell his regrets over the crash of a US plane in Pakistan.