New York Times - 09.06.2001

 

New York Times

Sharon in Moscow

By William Safire

ASHINGTON -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon returns to Israel today after two days of meetings in Moscow with Russia's president, Vladimir Putin.

That struck me as odd; what was Sharon doing there during what some Israelis call "the Rosh Hashana war," the violence that began as they celebrated the Jewish New Year one year ago? Are the Russians, who are also meeting with Palestinian leaders, trying to insinuate themselves into Middle East negotiations?

Reached by telephone as he left his meeting with Putin, Sharon says no: "The Russians have no desire to replace the U.S. as mediators. Their position is much closer to the American one than the European one — the Russians don't pressure us to bring in international observers."

What brought Sharon to Moscow was partly to cement ties among the Russians, Israelis and Americans regarding intelligence-sharing to combat international terrorism. But the bloody guerrilla war launched last year against Israeli civilians, though infuriating and terrifying, does not pose a threat to Israel's existence.

A greater danger comes from Iran, which Sharon notes "is calling for the destruction, the elimination of the state of Israel." Russia has been supplying Iran with scientists and matériel to build nuclear warheads on missiles.

"I brought our top man in this field," says Sharon, "the head of our atomic energy agency. Moshe Kaplinsky met with their experts and the deputy head of their National Security Council, and they will have further meetings. I didn't ask for commitments because I don't believe in declarations, I believe in deeds. We'll discuss it further through Washington."

I'm told in Washington that Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke with Sharon on the eve of his Moscow trip, suggesting that the Israeli assure Putin that he has nothing to fear from America's limited national missile defense. Sharon did his bit in this ongoing calming. It may carry some weight because of another reason for Israel's engaging with the Russians: Both nations have much to offer each other in space technology and economic cooperation.

In that phone call, Powell surely brought up the U.S. plan to stand up for its ally at the U.N. conference at Durban ostensibly about racism. Though Powell is taking some flak these days from media unhappy with his loyalty to President Bush's policies, he did precisely the right thing in yanking State's low-level delegation. Yasir Arafat had made a fool of well- meaning Jesse Jackson, who thought he had won agreement to avert an anti-Semitic blast, but Powell was not taken in. Our dramatic walkout shamed the Europeans out of acting like complete doormats for bigotry.

Looking beyond the current Middle Eastern war of attrition, Sharon is thinking strategically about the strengthening of Israel's population. "Putin has energized Jewish communal life here, with Hebrew schools in 400 communities. It's like a golden era with freedom of worship. Matter of fact, it worries me because we want a million more Russian Jews. So I tell them, `don't get used to it — move to Israel.' "

The Israeli leader, who understands Russian, may be too optimistic about the former K.G.B. operative now stifling dissent at home and helping Iraq's Saddam Hussein remain in power. I tried the question on Sharon that embarrassed George W. Bush: Does he trust Putin? He didn't bite: "Yes, I trust him, but I remember what President Reagan said — `trust and verify.' "

In Moscow, Sharon treated the Rosh Hashana war as a trial to be endured by a people who do not flinch from trials. In due time, Palestinians will have leaders who act not in a lust for land and vengeance but in their people's interest. Then, in the quiet that exhaustion brings, an accommodation will be reached that can go by the name of peace.

"I told Putin," says the resolute Sharon, "what I told Bush and Chirac and Blair: There is a different government now in Israel. We are doing what you would be doing in defending ourselves. We have been facing Arab and Muslim fundamentalist terror for 120 years, and we managed to bring millions of Jews here from a hundred countries, building a tremendous infrastructure — while holding a sword in one hand."