Former Envoy Dennis Ross Discusses Cease-fire in Israel
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: How important a moment is this in the course of the Middle East, in the course of the safety and security of millions of people? For more than 12 years, Dennis Ross was directly involved in Middle East negotiations as a U.S. envoy. He's now a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East policy, and he joins us to discuss these latest developments. Good morning, Mr. Ross. I guess you've been hearing on CNN the reports that there was some heavy gunfire, but sporadic, in the Gaza just at that border by Egypt. I guess this is a big day in terms of all sides watching to see whether or not this cease-fire can hold.</s>DENNIS ROSS, THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE: Certainly, if we're going to see a relative calm that emerged over the weekend in the aftermath of the horrific bombing of Friday night, you're going to have to see that self-declared cease-fire on the Palestinian side hold. I do believe you're going to have to see some very clear actions by the Palestinians on the ground. Yasser Arafat has to demonstrate to the Israelis, to the world, and frankly, his own public that the Palestinian Authority is run by him and that Hamas and Islamic Jihad do not represent the Palestinian cause, the Palestinian movement, or the Palestinian Authority.</s>MCEDWARDS: And is Mr. Arafat the person to do that? I mean, how can he control all of these different factions?</s>ROSS: In the past, he has. We went through, certainly when I was negotiating, a two-year period where the Palestinians were working on their own, and they were working in coordination with the Israelis, and you did not see this kind of action. If he's going to be heading the Palestinian authority, then he has to fulfill the responsibility of being that head.</s>MCEDWARDS: And does he have the wherewithal to do it in this kind of a climate, and particularly with Ariel Sharon at the helm in Israel?</s>ROSS: The fact is he doesn't have a choice. He has been able to do it in the past. He has to do it now. If he doesn't have the capability to do it, then who is one supposed to deal with?</s>MCEDWARDS: Ariel Sharon has said that he not only wants the violence to stop, but he wants the incitement to stop, meaning the rock throwing and that kind of thing. And I'm interested, Mr. Ross, whether it strikes you that, in some ways, both sides keep asking each other for things they know they can't deliver, know that they would have difficulty delivering.</s>ROSS: I think one of the problems that we've seen in the last couple of months is there has been a test of will on each side. Neither side has wanted to give in to the other. Neither side has wanted to look like the other succeeded in terms of their agenda or their purpose. That's why the Mitchell report, I think, was of value, because the Mitchell report created a sequence and a structure where both sides would be taking steps that would, in fact, address the grievances of the other. One of the important things about the declared cease-fire by Yasser Arafat, even though we have to see it demonstrated on the ground with real action, is it creates a break. Last week when Bill Burns, the American envoy, was out in the area, he ran into a problem because there was a basic debate over how you start this process. Now that process can be built on what's happening right now. So I think the important thing is to focus on that cease-fire and find a way to translate that cease-fire into something that is much more structured, much more organized, much more geared toward specific behaviors. If you stop the killing, if you stop the shooting, then you can move to the next phase, which is to begin to restore confidence, which is at an all-time low.</s>MCEDWARDS: All right, Dennis Ross, we've got to leave it there. Thanks so much for your thoughts this morning -- appreciate it.</s>ROSS: My pleasure. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com