Bush Says Arafat Can Do More to Halt the Violence

A day after the second Palestinian suicide bombing in Israel in less than a week, President Bush said Monday that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat “can do a lot more” to halt the violence.

European and moderate Arab nations “must join with us to continue to send a consistent message that there will be no peace unless we break this cycle of violence,” the president said.

He also said Israel had shown “moderate restraint” in its response to the attacks.

The president spoke with reporters during a break in a round of golf during his monthlong visit to his ranch in Texas.

Israel seized Orient House, the Palestinian Authority’s de facto headquarters in East Jerusalem, hours after a suicide bomber killed himself and 15 others Thursday in Jerusalem. The United States criticized Israel for carrying out a “political escalation.”

A bomber from Islamic Jihad killed himself and wounded at least 20 others in a suburb of Haifa on Sunday.

Asked whether he was confident that Arafat could bring a halt to the attacks, Bush said: “I think he can do a lot more to be convincing the people on the street to stop these acts of terrorism and the acts of violence.

“We recognize that there could be isolated incidents of terror, but these--this is a continuing terrorist campaign, and we’ve got to [bring it to a] stop,” the president said.