In Strong Terms, Bush Tells Arafat to ‘Stop the Violence’

President Bush urged both sides in the Middle East conflict Thursday to pull back from the latest burst of bloodshed but saved his harshest rhetoric for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, implying that the veteran guerrilla could stop the violence if he wanted to do so.

Speaking at a White House news conference, Bush called on the Palestinian Authority president to speak out “forcibly . . . to condemn violence and terrorism.” He said Arafat’s government “should arrest those who perpetrated the terrorist acts. It should resume security cooperation with Israel.”

Although Bush also urged Israel to exercise “restraint in its military response” to a spate of bombings and sniper fire, the theme of his remarks will surely please Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government. The Israeli leader has repeatedly accused Arafat of orchestrating six months of steady violence.

“The signal I’m sending to the Palestinians is: Stop the violence. . . . I can’t make it any more clear,” Bush said. “And I hope that Chairman Arafat hears it loud and clear. He’s going to hear it again on the telephone today. This is not the first time the message has been delivered.”

Bush assigned Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to telephone Arafat. Powell placed the call minutes after Bush completed the news conference.

“The secretary made quite clear . . . there were things that Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority needed to do to stop the violence,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. “And one of those is to make the very clear call, the very clear statement in public and in Arabic.”

Boucher acknowledged that some terrorists may be beyond Arafat’s control. But he said the Palestinian leader must do what he can, and soon.

“Were they to take these steps and then there was a diminution but not a complete halt . . . that would be a different situation.” he said. “But that’s not the situation we’re in now.”

Arafat is “a major figure for Palestinians everywhere,” Boucher said, adding, “I’m not asserting that he has some authority over [the Islamic militant group] Hamas, but as with any group that wants to carry out violence, the Palestinian Authority has a need and obligation, for their own sake, as well as for the sake of peace in the region, to arrest people who might be carrying out violence.”

In his remarks, Bush condemned the latest round of violence, which included the shooting death Monday of a 10-month-old Jewish girl, saying, “The tragic cycle of incitement, provocation and violence has gone on far too long.”

At the same time, the president called on Sharon to deliver on his commitment, made to Bush last week, to begin restoring “normalcy” to the lives of Palestinians, including removing Israeli checkpoints.

In retaliation for the Palestinian attacks, Sharon on Wednesday unleashed his first military response since he took office March 7, sending helicopter gunships to attack sites of Arafat’s elite security forces.

Despite Bush’s call for moderation, the administration said Israel has a right to defend itself. U.S. officials refused to say whether the military action Wednesday qualified as self-defense or excessive use of force. But Boucher flatly rejected Palestinian charges that the United States gave Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres a green light for the attacks.

The administration’s words and actions Thursday provided the clearest picture yet of how Bush views the volatile Middle East and the U.S. role in the peace process.

During his half-hour news conference, Bush reiterated his intention to “facilitate” but not “force” a peace agreement. And he said he hopes to enlist the help of leaders in the region, especially Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah II, both of whom are scheduled to meet with Bush here in the coming days.

“Our goal is to encourage a series of reciprocal and parallel steps by both sides that will halt the escalation of violence, provide safety and security for civilians on both sides, and restore normalcy to the lives of everyone in the region,” Bush said. “A lasting peace in the region will come only when the parties agree directly on its terms.”

That conviction, Bush said, explains why the U.S. this week vetoed “an unbalanced” U.N. resolution calling for an international observer force to protect Palestinians.

And the president strongly disagreed with a reporter’s suggestion that Washington may have taken too aloof a role in the peace process.

“We have been fully engaged in the Middle East. We’re on the phone all the time to the leaders,” Bush said. But bringing peace to the region, he added, “is going to require more than just one voice.”