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“He hates America. He hates many of our friends. He hates Israel,” Bush said of Saddam
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OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, October 6 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – The United
States and Israel are keeping tight counsel pending a looming U.S.
invasion of Iraq. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
asked ministers at a weekly cabinet meeting Sunday, October 6, not to
make any more public comments about Iraq after Washington asked Israel
to keep a low profile, Israeli public radio here said.
At
the opening of the ministerial meeting, Sharon
explained that the United States had asked for Israel to keep
tight-lipped on the subject, stressing that any firebrand comments
could cause problems for the Jewish state’s main ally as it gears up
for strikes against President Saddam Hussein, Agence France-Presse
(AFP) reported.
Sharon
said that the Americans have pressed Israel on the subject several
times and that Israeli remarks impede U.S. efforts. The prime minister
added that each minister should concentrate solely on his portfolio,
Israeli newspaper, Ha’artez, reported.
Defense
Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer recently said Washington could launch an
offensive against Iraq by the end of November and that Israel was
ready to “face any eventuality.”
Sharon
is to visit Washington on October 16, when U.S. President George W.
Bush is expected to ask him to tone down Israel’s tough talk against
Iraq to try to calm regional tensions as the United States woos
support for military action, AFP said.
It
will be Sharon’s
seventh visit since taking office in March 2001.
U.S.
authorities have been vague on details of the visit, giving only the
date and declining to comment if Sharon
will meet with Bush. Israeli radio said Bush had invited Sharon.
The
president, who gave a speech in Manchester, England, Saturday, October
5, focused on Iraq. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s goal, he said, is
to obtain nuclear weapons, while the U.S. goal was to disarm him.
“He
hates America. He hates many of our friends. He hates Israel,” Bush
said of Saddam.
“If
Saddam Hussein makes the choice not to disarm, the United States and a
lot of our friends will disarm him,” he reiterated.
Washington
suspects Iraq is secretly developing weapons of mass destruction.
According
to Israeli radio, Sharon’s
trip to Washington will focus on the Middle East in the context of a
U.S. attack against Iraq and the situation in the Palestinian
territories.
A
strike on Iraq could come as early as the end of November, Israeli
Defense Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer said Friday.
According
to Ha’aretz, Bush
is likely to promise Sharon that the U.S. will do its utmost to
prevent Iraq firing missiles at Israel and the Americans have proposed
deploying Patriot missiles in Israel as a defensive measure.
A
senior Israeli official says Sharon is likely to agree to the Patriot
proposal. “You can’t refuse a proposal to set up a defense
system,” the source said.
This
will also be Sharon’s
first visit since his troops lay siege to Palestinian President Yasser
Arafat’s compound in Ramallah in the West Bank before pulling back
under international pressure.
The
Israeli forces were looking to arrest dozens of Palestinians hiding in
the compound that Israel accused of being terrorists.
Bush
expressed displeasure at the standoff which left most of Arafat’s
headquarters in ruins.
“I
thought the actions the Israelis took were not helpful in terms of the
establishment and development of the institutions necessary for a
Palestinian state to emerge,” Bush said at the time.
Sharon’s
trip also comes at a time when Arab nations have expressed
dissatisfaction with a recent U.S. decision on Jerusalem.
Earlier
in the week Bush signed a law on the 2003 U.S. budget. One part of the
bill authorized the removal the U.S. embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv
to Jerusalem, thereby recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
However,
Bush later recognized that Congress had overstepped its bounds, and
underlined that U.S. recognition of Tel Aviv as Israel’s capital
“has not changed,” he said.
Meanwhile,
Ha’aretz also reported that an Israeli security
delegation arrived in Washington Saturday to consult with U.S.
officials ahead of a possible war in Iraq.
The
Israeli team - comprised of Defense Ministry Director General Amos
Yaron, his deputy Kuti Mor, and IDF Plans and Policy Directorate head
Major General Giora Eiland - will be meeting with Deputy Secretary of
Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage,
and other top U.S. officials.
The
delegation’s invitation to Washington is a sign that the Bush
administration has decided to move to a new stage in its contacts with
Israel, following the end of the siege on the Muqata compound in
Ramallah at the start of the week.
Quiet
discussions on the preparations for a war with Iraq have been
conducted for a few months, but the Bush administration has decided to
“raise their profile,” Ha’aretz said.
