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CNN SATURDAY NIGHT
Interview With Martin Indyk
Aired September 6, 2003 - 22:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: White House reaction to the resignation has been somewhat muted. Spokesman Scott McClennan simply said, "We hope the Palestinian legislature will act in a way that empowers the prime minister to fight terror and bring a better way of life to the Palestinian people. The creation of the office of prime minister was a key turning point for the Palestinian Authority in the development of new institutions to serve all the people, not just a corrupt law tainted by terror. The prime minister must be supported by a cabinet committed to fighting terror, political reform, and rooting out corruption."
Well, the statement seems rather bland, given that the Bush White House went to great lengths to endorse Abbas publicly. Martin Indyk is here to shed some light on what the resignation means for this White House and the Mideast road map. He is the former U.S. ambassador to Israel and is currently working with the Brookings Institution, where he is director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy.
Thank you for joining us.
MARTIN INDYK, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Thank you, Kelli.
ARENA: Well, what do you think? We didn't hear much from the White House. How delicate a situation is this for the administration at this point?
INDYK: Well, what you just read out there, Kelli, was an indication of the stance that they are taking, very much above the fray, not to mentioning Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas at all, and laying out principles that they would like to see the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian legislative council endorse the empowerment of prime minister.
Well, that obviously didn't happen with Prime Minister Abbas. Arafat made sure that he would not be able to succeed in his job by preventing him from having the power, particularly over the security forces.
So the question now is what the administration will do. Will they engage more actively in trying to ensure that there is an empowered prime minister? Or will they stand back and send a signal that until the Palestinians get their act together, until a prime minister is able to control those security services and take that power away from Arafat, there will be nothing for the Bush administration to do. And I think that latter approach is what we're really seeing the beginnings of with this statement this evening.
ARENA: Do you think that this is truly the end for Mahmoud Abbas? Could this possibly be a ploy on his part to tell everyone to just back off and let him do what he needs to do? Or do you really believe that this is a sincere resignation and that he will be out of the picture?
INDYK: Could go either way. You saw Saab Erekat there basically lobbying for a renegotiation and getting Arafat to invite Abbas to come back in. I have known him for a long time. And I think he's deadly serious about leaving. He was completely fed up with the way that Arafat sought to undermine him, and the way that Hamas blew up the cease-fire.
His speech last week before the legislative council makes that very clear, his disgust with the whole process. He was humiliated by the demonstrations that Arafat orchestrated outside the Parliament. And I think he is the kind of person who prefers to leave the scene, than to fight what he sees by now is a hopeless battle. So I just...
ARENA: Well, but the problem here though is that Yasser Arafat is still there. And that was clearly the problem for Abbas. Does -- can this situation move forward if Yasser Arafat remains a very active player?
INDYK: I don't believe so, simply because Israel will not negotiate, will not do a deal with Yasser Arafat. From their point of view, he is a serial breaker of commitments and agreements.
And of course, President Bush won't deal with Yasser Arafat. On the other hand, Yasser Arafat is not about to go quietly into the night. He...
ARENA: So we have a stalemate?
INDYK: Indeed, except that with Abu Mazen gone, Yasser Arafat is in great danger of being removed from the scene by Israel. In the context of perhaps another terrorist attack, a large one, which might come from Hamas. They're swearing revenge for the various tide of assassinations that Israel has pursued. Then I think that Arafat with his prime minister gone, really has no shield.
ARENA: Right.
INDYK: The administration will regard him as responsible for killing our road map. And the Israelis have moved, over the last few months, to a kind of consensus position that he is the obstacle, and he needs to go. So...
ARENA: All right, well on that note, I'm sorry I have to cut you short. But thank you for joining us...
INDYK: My pleasure.
ARENA: ...Martin Indyk of the Brookings Institution. Have a good night.
INDYK: Thank you.
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