PM said set to warn Bush: If Abbas won’t act, we will

By Aluf Benn (Washington) and Nathan Guttman (Crawford, Texas), Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Staff and Agencies Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will tell U.S. President George W. Bush in a meeting at the president’s Texas ranch Monday that if Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas fails to curb militant violence, Israel will be forced to do so itself, Army Radio reported. There has been growing concern that the fragile ceasefire declared by Sharon and Abbas in February is fraying. Retaliating for the killings of three Palestinian teenagers by IDF troops in Gaza on Saturday, militants fired some 100 mortar shells and rockets at Gaza Strip settlements and at the western Negev. The expected Israeli warning regarding the Palestinian Authority chairman was underscored by Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said of Abbas early Monday, „Abu Mazen must understand: If he doesn’t do it – and he’s not showing signs of doing it – then we will do it. And then there may be some chance that he’ll do something. But if he doesn’t, then we will.” Sharon will tell the American president that Abbas’ control over the Palestinian Authority’s territories is collapsing and the armed organizations are violating their own cease-fire promises, as occurred this weekend in Gaza. Sharon arrived in Waco, Texas on Monday. The prime minister’s hotel in Waco was surrounded by a tight cordon of security with large trucks blocking intersections. Sharon will travel to Bush’s ranch 25 miles (40 km) away in Crawford on Monday morning for talks, a joint news conference and lunch. The premier met with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice over dinner in his hotel in Texas. The two spent around an hour together, in preparation for Sharon’s meeting with Bush later in the day. They discussed the disengagement, the situation in the PA and the Iranian nuclear threat. Later, Sharon’s aides met with Bush administration officials to finalize the preparations. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz called Abbas on Sunday night to impress upon him the need to crack down on the armed groups in Gaza, which has launched some 80 mortars and Qassam rockets into Gush Katif since Saturday. The shelling was in retaliation for the killing of three Palestinian youths, who were shot dead by Israeli troops on Saturday on the Philadelphi route. Sharon told reporters during his flight predawn on Monday that he viewed the attack on Gaza settlements as a ‘blatant violation’ of the agreements established at the Sharm el Sheikh summit and that he would discuss the matter with the president. The IDF says the evidence collected so far in its investigation of the shooting indicates that the soldiers behaved properly – and that the three 14-year-olds were involved in weapons smuggling efforts in the area. The Sharon trip came after a tense weekend in Israel. In addition to the flare-up in Gaza, thousands of police were sent to Jerusalem to prevent a threatened demonstration by extreme rightists on the Temple Mount. Palestinian demonstrators flooded the site to „protect” it from the Jewish protesters. And while fewer than 100 demonstrators showed up for a much touted „demonstration by tens of thousands” on Tel Aviv’s Ayalon highway, dozens of rightists burned tires Sunday, snarling the already jammed morning rush-hour traffic until police cleared the way. Police arrested 31 Jews and 8 Palestinians in Jerusalem and another 32 Jews in Tel Aviv. Sharon is to spend six hours Monday with U.S. officials in Crawford, Texas, at President Bush’s „western White House.” From Texas, Sharon will head back to Israel via Washington, where he is slated to meet with administration officials, congressional leaders, American Jewish community leaders and the press. He is due back in Israel on Thursday. Ahead of the meeting Monday, reports from Texas said the U.S. is planning to broaden the scope of its special security envoy Lt. Gen. William Ward to deal with the Israeli complaints about lack of PA progress on its security reforms and its inability to prevent mortars launched at Gush Katif. American sources said that Bush and Rice are planning to beef up Ward’s team, as well as widen the scope of his responsibilities, to help speed up the pace of reforms in the PA. Ward has come under some criticism for failing to make progress on the ground and not making explicit demands of either side. Former U.S. peace negotiator Dennis Ross said last week that Ward is working too slowly, and warned that by the time he gets up to steam, „he’ll find himself facing the Hamas and not the PA.” Israel has so far been satisfied with Ward’s operation, with Mofaz praising him in Washington during his visit there last week. Israeli officials seem to be happy with Ward because he doesn’t hand out grades to either side. As part of his beefed-up role, Ward would meet more often with PA security officials, and maintain closer monitoring of progress on the ground. While Sharon will be emphasizing Abbas’ failures, the American agenda for the summit places a high priority on Israel increasing security cooperation with the Palestinians ahead of the disengagement and clarifications about Israeli settlement construction in the territories. Those issues were due to come up in the meeting between Rice and Sharon at Sharon’s Waco, Texas hotel. The two met Monday night shortly after Sharon’s arrival, to discuss the issues on the agenda in Crawford. The Bush-Sharon meeting will begin at 9:30 Monday morning, Crawford time. After all the formalities – meetings with staff, the press conference, the luncheon – Bush is slated to give Sharon a tour of the Bush ranch with just the two of them in the president’s pickup truck. Meanwhile, no date has been formally scheduled for a Bush-Abbas meeting. The White House has made clear to Abbas that he is welcome, but he has so far postponed his trip until the political and security situation in the PA has been stabilized. BPI-info