It was reported late this afternoon that CIA director George Tenet had announced the end of his mission to achieve a formal ceasefire, and that he blamed the Palestinians for the failure. Other reports were that Tenet had not yet given up his efforts, and that the PLO, while rejecting critical parts of the proposals, would continue to discuss them tonight.
Israel agreed earlier this morning to accept Tenet\'s ceasefire proposals, despite its reservations regarding some of the clauses. Tenet then spent the afternoon with Palestinian officials, who said they could not accept the demand to arrest the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists specified by Israel. Ma’ariv newspaper editorialized today that while some of the Israeli and Palestinian objections to Tenet’s initiative are arguable, “it is impossible to argue with Ariel Sharon’s ultimatum-demand regarding wanted fugitives... Israel is demanding not only their arrest, but also counter-terrorist actions initiated by the PA to foil attacks and apprehend fugitives so that 20 young people will not be murdered as they go out to have fun Friday night. For Israel, this is a matter of life and death.”
The Israeli position is that any ceasefire must mean a total cessation of violence, and that even rock-throwings will \"zero out\" the six-to-eight week cooling off period and necessitate its re-start. Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said today, however, that it is obvious that if some boy throws rocks somewhere, this will not be counted as a violation of the ceasefire.
Israel agreed earlier this morning to accept Tenet\'s ceasefire proposals, despite its reservations regarding some of the clauses. Tenet then spent the afternoon with Palestinian officials, who said they could not accept the demand to arrest the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists specified by Israel. Ma’ariv newspaper editorialized today that while some of the Israeli and Palestinian objections to Tenet’s initiative are arguable, “it is impossible to argue with Ariel Sharon’s ultimatum-demand regarding wanted fugitives... Israel is demanding not only their arrest, but also counter-terrorist actions initiated by the PA to foil attacks and apprehend fugitives so that 20 young people will not be murdered as they go out to have fun Friday night. For Israel, this is a matter of life and death.”
The Israeli position is that any ceasefire must mean a total cessation of violence, and that even rock-throwings will \"zero out\" the six-to-eight week cooling off period and necessitate its re-start. Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said today, however, that it is obvious that if some boy throws rocks somewhere, this will not be counted as a violation of the ceasefire.