March 18, 2002 Posted: 10:39 AM EST (1539 GMT)
Cheney in Israel amid security talks
Cheney during his visit to Kuwait on Monday
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in Israel Monday as top Israeli and Palestinian security officials met with the U.S. Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni in an attempt to secure a cease-fire. As the vice president arrived in Israel, Avi Dichter, head of Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security service; Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland, chief of Israeli military operations; Jibril al-Rajoub, head of preventive security on the West Bank; and Mohammed Dahlan, who holds a similar post in Gaza, were meeting with Zinni, Israeli security sources said. Cheney came from Kuwait, the last Arab country on his 12-nation tour. He plans to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Zinni, and possibly a high-level Palestinian delegation
At a news conference earlier Monday in Kuwait City, Cheney did not rule out a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, but said he wanted to confer with Zinni first to find out "what, if any, contribution I could make." The vice president's visit underscored the end of another weekend of violence in the region.
On Sunday, a Palestinian gunman opened fire in Kfar Saba, a town north of Tel Aviv, killing an Israeli teenager and wounding nine, police and hospital sources said. Police shot and killed the gunman shortly after the terror attack. Also on Sunday, a Palestinian bomber blew himself up next to a bus at a busy East Jerusalem a intersection, Israeli police said. No one was seriously injured, but some people, apparently suffering from shock, were taken to hospitals, officials said. Islamic Jihad -- a militant group dedicated to the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel -- claimed responsibility for the terror attack in East Jerusalem. Amid the violence, Zinni met with Arafat at his Ramallah headquarters. Earlier that day, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat said the three-way meeting among the Palestinians, Israelis and Zinni was possible. "All I can say is that President Arafat made a commitment to Gen. Zinni that we will do everything in our power to help him succeed in his endeavor," Erakat told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer." He repeated the Palestinians' stipulation that, before a meeting can take place, Israelis must withdraw from Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank and Gaza -- site during the past week of their largest offensive since the 1982 invasion of Lebanon.
He said some Israeli soldiers remain in parts of "Area A," which, under the 1993 Oslo peace accords, is supposed to be under full Palestinian control (More on the Oslo accords)
Dore Gold, special adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, told CNN that Israeli forces won't withdraw from places like Beit Jala in the West Bank unless Palestinians can assure that Israeli citizens are safe from sniper attacks. Gold said snipers from the Palestinian Tanzim militia, an armed faction linked to Arafat's Fatah movement, regularly take up positions in Beit Jala and shoot across a ravine into an area of southern Jerusalem, targeting civilian apartments. "We're willing to pull out from those areas. We want to give this Zinni mission a chance. But we will not pull out unless we have assurances from the Palestinians that they will prevent the return of those Tanzim snipers," Gold said. "It's all about the Palestinians taking responsibility." Sharon proposed the three-way meeting Saturday to discuss a cease-fire. A senior aide to Sharon, Ra'anan Gissin, said the Israeli prime minister would seek implementation of Tenet's security plan, the first step toward adopting the peace plan developed by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell. The Tenet plan, put forth by CIA Director George Tenet, calls for negotiating a cease-fire and urges Israeli and Palestinian security organizations to reaffirm commitments to agreements contained in the Mitchell report. That report calls for a resumption of security cooperation, a halt to the construction of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories, a denunciation of terrorism and resumption of peace talks