Despite previous reports to the contrary, U.S. President George Bush has no intention of meeting Yasser Arafat in the coming month. \"The President has said that he will meet with people when it is necessary to meet with people to advance the cause,\" said National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. \"At this point in time, there are no plans for him to meet with Yasser Arafat in New York.\"
The State Department is in favor of such a meeting, which had been rumored to take place during the UN General Council session two weeks from now, but the White House, at present, does not agree. The meeting between Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Arafat, however, is still on, and may even be held tomorrow night, according to a senior military source. The meeting is scheduled to take place at the Erez Checkpoint separating Gaza from the rest of Israel. Palestinian sources said that there is no chance that the meeting will lead to a breakthrough.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said last night that Israel has the right to defend itself and to react to Palestinian violence. \"Israel has a very difficult problem,\" Rumsfeld told Fox News. \"It has suicide bombers going into restaurants and hotels and bus stops and killing themselves and killing 10, 20, 30 people who are innocent bystanders... This is certainly terrorism and it is something that any country has to deal with.\" Israeli leaders must take action to try to reduce or end the violence, said Rumsfeld.
Yoram Ettinger, Israel\'s former liaison to the U.S. Congress, told Arutz-7 today that U.S. Vice President Cheney and Secretary Rumsfeld \"comprise the backbone of the Bush Administration, and they are not only very supportive of Israel, they even expect that Israel should take stronger actions against terrorism... When Israel destroyed the Iraqi reactor in 1981, Rumsfeld said, \'Thank G-d that Israel did this.\'\"
Ettinger said that the American media are not as anti-Israel as some might think: \"When Israel thinks of the American media, they think of The New York Times, the Washington Post, and CNN. But these are liberal, dovish papers. Israel should be paying much more attention to the Wall Street Journal, which is very influential across the United States and in government circles, and which has been critical of Oslo since 1993 and critical of Arafat over the past year. Similarly, FOX News is now ahead of CNN in importance in the U.S....\"
Ettinger concluded with the following: \"When Israel destroyed the Iraqi reactor in 1981, Israel\'s best friend ever in the White House, Ronald Reagan, cut off arms to Israel for six months, and our strong supporter in the UN, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, delivered a scathing speech in the UN. But I ask: Isn\'t it true that six months of tension is a fair price to pay for years and generations of protection from an Iraqi nuclear threat? This is what is required now as well: strong leadership that will make the right decisions for the long-range, even at the expense of temporary discomfort.\"
The State Department is in favor of such a meeting, which had been rumored to take place during the UN General Council session two weeks from now, but the White House, at present, does not agree. The meeting between Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Arafat, however, is still on, and may even be held tomorrow night, according to a senior military source. The meeting is scheduled to take place at the Erez Checkpoint separating Gaza from the rest of Israel. Palestinian sources said that there is no chance that the meeting will lead to a breakthrough.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said last night that Israel has the right to defend itself and to react to Palestinian violence. \"Israel has a very difficult problem,\" Rumsfeld told Fox News. \"It has suicide bombers going into restaurants and hotels and bus stops and killing themselves and killing 10, 20, 30 people who are innocent bystanders... This is certainly terrorism and it is something that any country has to deal with.\" Israeli leaders must take action to try to reduce or end the violence, said Rumsfeld.
Yoram Ettinger, Israel\'s former liaison to the U.S. Congress, told Arutz-7 today that U.S. Vice President Cheney and Secretary Rumsfeld \"comprise the backbone of the Bush Administration, and they are not only very supportive of Israel, they even expect that Israel should take stronger actions against terrorism... When Israel destroyed the Iraqi reactor in 1981, Rumsfeld said, \'Thank G-d that Israel did this.\'\"
Ettinger said that the American media are not as anti-Israel as some might think: \"When Israel thinks of the American media, they think of The New York Times, the Washington Post, and CNN. But these are liberal, dovish papers. Israel should be paying much more attention to the Wall Street Journal, which is very influential across the United States and in government circles, and which has been critical of Oslo since 1993 and critical of Arafat over the past year. Similarly, FOX News is now ahead of CNN in importance in the U.S....\"
Ettinger concluded with the following: \"When Israel destroyed the Iraqi reactor in 1981, Israel\'s best friend ever in the White House, Ronald Reagan, cut off arms to Israel for six months, and our strong supporter in the UN, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, delivered a scathing speech in the UN. But I ask: Isn\'t it true that six months of tension is a fair price to pay for years and generations of protection from an Iraqi nuclear threat? This is what is required now as well: strong leadership that will make the right decisions for the long-range, even at the expense of temporary discomfort.\"