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Israel retaliate { October 16 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35949-2002Oct16.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35949-2002Oct16.html
Bush: Israel to Respond if Attacked
By Steve Weizman
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, October 16, 2002; 4:16 PM
WASHINGTON –– President Bush, calling Saddam Hussein a dangerous man, said Wednesday after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that he was certain Sharon would retaliate if Iraq attacked Israel.
Bush gave no indication in an Oval Office news conference that he had tried to restrain Sharon, who already has said his country could not stand by if attacked.
"If Iraq were to attack, I am sure the prime minister will respond," Bush said.
Sharon, in brief remarks, said Israel had never had a better friend in the White House than Bush. "We never had such cooperaition in everything as we have with the current administration."
Bush's father, by contrast, pressured Israel to stay out of the Persian Gulf War in 1991, and then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir complied, even after Iraq hit Israel with 39 Scud missiles.
"He's got a desire to defend himself," Bush said of Sharon's situation.
Bush said Saddam has to understand the international community would not condone an attack on Israel or any other country. "He is a dangerous man. He has gassed his own people. That's why he has to be disarmed," Bush said.
On the Arab-Israel front, Bush said Sharon had assured him he will turn over tax revenues withheld from the Palestinians to the Palestinian people. But Bush said there must be assurances the funds are not used to promote terror.
The president also said he would send Assistant Secretary of State William Burns to the Middle East to work on concrete security and peacemaking moves.
On the troubled border between Israel and Lebanon, the president expressed support for the Israeli government in the event of an escalation of attacks by Hezbollah guerrillas.
"We are making it clear we will fight terror wherever it exists," Bush said. "We expect Hezbollah not to attack our friend."
The guerrillas, who have been fighting a cross-border war with Israel, are armed by Iran and supported by Syria, two nations which are listed annually as sponsors of terror by the State Department.
Sharon, accompanied by Israeli National Security Council Chief Ephraim Halevi, arrived from Jerusalem early Tuesday for a three-day visit focusing mainly on security-related issues. Wednesday's call on the White House would be his seventh since taking office in March 2001.
The United States has been pressing Israel to pull out of at least one of the six West Bank cities it still holds after taking over seven cities in June. It had already pulled out of Bethlehem, but maintains a military presence and often tight curfews on the rest.
The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer, sent a letter to Sharon over the weekend calling for troop withdrawals, the easing of restrictions on the movements of Palestinians and the handover of hundreds of millions of dollars in Palestinian tax revenues that Israel has withheld.
Although officials on both sides say the underlying Israel-U.S. relationship is rock solid, Israel has taken repeated criticism from Washington recently over its siege of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's West Bank headquarters, civilian casualties in Israeli strikes against Palestinian militants and repeated Israeli pledges to hit back hard against Iraq if it again attacks Israel.
Bush and his top advisers are determined to keep Israel out of any U.S. offensive against Iraq. They are anxious about the impact an Israeli response might have on Arab nations already uncomfortable about a prospective war with Iraq and resentful of what they consider the U.S. failure to change Israel's policies regarding the Palestinians.
Bush shares Sharon's view of Iraq as an aggressive nation that threatens Israel, a U.S. official said Tuesday. Israel was hit by 39 Iraqi Scud missiles in the 1991 war, and Iraq also has attacked Saudi Arabia, Iran and Kuwait.
Yitzhak Shamir, then Israel's prime minister, heeded American advice and held his fire in the 1991 conflict, leading critics at home to say he had seriously weakened Israel's deterrent posture.
U.S.-supplied Patriot missiles helped defend Israel, but they did not provide an airtight blanket against Iraqi Scuds.
Should another war break out, Israeli officials say, the scenario will be different.
This time, the United States will not be in active alliance with Arab armies, as it was in 1991, and Israel now has what it says is a far more effective anti-missile system, the Arrow, developed in cooperation with the United States.
Many Israeli analysts say the country cannot again fail to react if it expects to be taken seriously in the future by hostile neighbors.
Prominent among those urging a tough response is former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sharon's toughest rival for leadership of the conservative Likud party. On Tuesday evening Sharon met Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice. Sharon spokesman Raanan Gissin described that meeting as preparation for the talks with Bush, but had no further details.
During his stay Sharon also is scheduled to hold talks with Secretary of State Colin Powell, Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and congressional leaders, then head for home on Thursday.
In his talks with Bush and other U.S. officials, Sharon also is expected to discuss a water dispute causing new tensions between Israel and its neighbor to the north, Lebanon.
Israel strongly opposes Lebanon's plans to start pumping water from the Wazzani River, a Lebanese tributary of the Jordan River, which is one of Israel's main fresh water sources.
Israeli officials have hinted that ultimately Israel may use force to stop the project but they say Sharon has agreed to U.S. requests to try to resolve the dispute by diplomatic means if possible.
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On the Net:
State Department's Israel site: http://www.state.gov/p/nea/ci/israel/
© 2002 The Associated Press
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