Sharon backs U.S. missile plan

Bush, Israeli leader to meet for first time

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon brought his security-before-negotiations message to U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday for the two leaders' first meeting since both took office.

Sharon told a pro-Israeli group convention in Washington on Monday that he would "do what is necessary to protect the people of Israel."

"Yasser Arafat (Palestinian Authority president) must understand first and foremost that he will gain nothing from violence," the former general said to rousing applause before the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). "Israel will not negotiate while Israeli civilians and soldiers are under fire and under threat of terror.'

RESOURCES Timeline gallery: Israeli leader Ariel Sharon

One Israeli official said Sharon will argue to Bush that such negotiations with the Palestinians can only take place after the violence ends and then only "incrementally, as each side takes confidence-building measures that rebuild trust."

Officials also said Sharon would likely appeal for more cooperation and a bigger role in U.S. missile defense planning.

Sharon said in his speech on Monday that "missile defense is an absolute imperative" for Israel.

Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told the delegates to the AIPAC convention that there was "no question that America will stand by Israel.

"We recognize that Israelis live in a very dangerous neighborhood, so we will work, we will look for ways to strengthen and expand our valuable strategic cooperation with Israel, so that we can help preserve a qualitative military edge," he said.

Sharon met with Powell on Monday, as well as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and CIA Director George Tenet.

No end to violence

While Sharon traveled to Washington, the almost daily violence both he and U.S. officials wanted to see end did nothing of the sort.

Ariel Sharon, left, and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon on Monday

An Israeli man was found dead Monday near the northern border, while another motorist was killed in a drive-by shooting. On Sunday, Palestinian extremists in Gaza fired mortar bombs into Israel, wounding an Israeli soldier.

"The status quo is costly," Powell said Monday. But he added that if peacemaking efforts were to drift it would "only lead to greater tragedy."

"Neither Israelis nor Palestinians are served by the current situation," he said, insisting both parties need a "dialogue that will lead to mutually acceptable political economic and security arrangements, be they transitional or permanent, partial or whole."

In his speech, Sharon restated Israel's position that Arafat was the sole cause of the violence, which has left over 400 people dead, most of them Palestinians.

"Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority are returning to the belief that they can defeat Israel by means of armed struggle," he said. "Arafat is willing to destabilize the entire Middle East ... in order to achieve his goals."

CNN State Department Producer Elise Labott contributed to this report.

Sharon in U.S. for talks with Bush
March 19, 2001
Sharon seeks Bush approval for measured moves with Palestinians
March 18, 2001
Sharon prepares for U.S. visit
March 17, 2001

Palestinian National Authority
Israeli Prime Minister's Office

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