Andrea Koppel: U.S. reaction to Israel election outcome

Andrea Koppel is a State Department correspondent for CNN.

CNN Moderator: The Clinton administration focused the peace process on the Israelis and Palestinians. Will the Bush Administration have broader objectives?

Andrea Koppel: Yes it will. Whether or not it will be able to achieve those bright objectives remains to be seen. And many believe that with the landslide victory yesterday of Ariel Sharon the Bush administration is now presented with an immediate challenge, which is how to keep the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from exploding or spilling over into other parts of the region thereby further damaging U.S. influence in the region at large. And as the Bush administration Secretary of State Powell, President Bush and others have made clear they would much prefer to devote their energies to boosting sanctions or reenergizing sanctions against Iraq rather than focusing like a laser beam as did the Clinton administration on the Israeli Palestinian peace process.

FACTS Sharon’s hurdles  • Has 45 days to form government once results are confirmed on February 13  • Must gain Knesset approval of his budget by March 31 - if unsuccessful, new elections will be called     RESOURCES Domestic and international reaction to the election of Ariel Sharon     RESOURCES Israeli Election 2001     GALLERY Timeline gallery: Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon    MESSAGE BOARD Mideast peace     ALSO Sharon to face old foes Press alarmed by Sharon win Investors wait on Sharon Analysis: Europe fears for peace process Bush pledges close cooperation with Sharon Palestinians pledge to work with Sharon

CNN Moderator: In Arab countries, the Bush name still generates significant goodwill because of the Gulf War. Can President Bush leverage this to benefit the peace process?

Andrea Koppel: Well, certainly they are hoping to do just that. Secretary Powell just announced that he will be making his first solo trip at the end of this month. He plans to travel to the Middle East, not just the Persian Gulf, not only to reacquaint himself with the leaders in the region -- after all there have been some changes there in recent years -- but in addition, Secretary Powell will try to cash in on his popularity in the Arab world in an effort to convince many there that they should support Bush Administration efforts to tighten sanctions against Iraq, something they've indicated they are less in favor of doing now than ever before, especially in light of the Palestinian uprising of the last number of months.

Question from chat room: Will Secretary Powell have a big impact on helping to broker peace in the Middle East?

Andrea Koppel: The Bush Administration does not want to get sucked into the peace process as a day-in-day-out obsession. While Secretary Powell has said the U.S. will try to help, clearly this administration will try to keep the negotiations to the parties themselves, only if absolutely necessary becoming involved directly, but that is certainly not something the Bush Administration wants to make a habit of. Time and again this administration has stressed that it wants to have a much broader approach to the region. Reading between the lines, its message is that it thinks the Clinton administration spent far too much time for very little results.

CNN Moderator: Can the economic benefits of peace and stability in the region have enough appeal to bring all the Middle East players into the peace process?

Andrea Koppel: Well, it certainly depends what the atmosphere is like. And while there is a great need in many countries, Jordan for instance, to try to energize its economy, when you have an ongoing conflict like the one that has overshadowed everything else in Israel and the Palestinian territories, one that has pulled at the heartstrings of our peoples across the region, it becomes very difficult, if not impossible, for leaders in these countries, for governments there, to sell the peace process to their people. After all, millions of Arabs have been seeing on their television hundreds of funerals for Palestinians who died at the hands of Israeli soldiers. Now there, of course, are many Israelis who have been killed at the hands of Palestinians, but the overriding concern for the Arab world is what happens to the Palestinian people, so how can Arab governments justify playing an active role in mediating a peace deal between the Palestinians and the Israelis when, at least in Arab eyes the Israelis, they are seen as the aggressor, and again, from their perspective, as a government that is not supportive of the peace process. Now that the right wing opposition leader Ariel Sharon is set to become Israel’s next prime minister, the mood is excessively pessimistic and many Israelis and Arabs agree that the chance fro jump starting peace talks is slim under this government.

CNN Moderator: Since the Gulf War, Bashar Al-Assad has replaced his father as president of Syria. Do we know his stance on the peace process and whether he wants Syria to be involved?

Andrea Koppel: He certainly has not made any public gestures or given any public indication that he wants to move forward with Israeli - Syrian peace talks. Now that of course is understandable. Bashar Al Assad, after all, hasn't even been in power in Syria for a year, and his father was then one of the longest serving leaders in the Arab world. And so Bashar Assad has had to spend most of the last year trying to consolidate his own base of power, and it still remains to be seen if, in fact, he has the clout and the backing of others in Syria to move forward with making any kind of compromise in order for the Israelis to consider beginning talks again.

CNN Moderator: Thank you for joining us today.

Andrea Koppel: Thanks for your thoughtful questions as always!

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Israelis vote amid threats
February 6, 2001
Barak tries to coax Israeli Arabs to polls as vote nears
February 4, 2001
Blow for Barak as Rabbis back Sharon
February 4, 2001
Barak refuses to stand aside
January 31, 2001
Mideast negotiators want to continue talks after Israeli elections
January 27, 2001

Israeli Prime Minister's Office
Knesset, The Israeli Parliament
Likud
Meretz Party
Avoda (Labour) Party
Israel Defense Forces
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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