Dennis Ross: Arafat 'has to do it now'

(CNN) -- The deadliest incident in eight months of violence between Israelis and Palestinians -- a suicide bombing that killed 20 Israelis -- strained the contentious balance between the adversaries nearly to the breaking point over the weekend.

By Monday, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had announced a cease-fire and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he was maintaining restraint to give diplomacy a chance -- while sporadic gunfire was reported in Gaza and the West Bank.

VIDEO Israelis wait to see if Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat enforces cease-fire. CNN's Jerrold Kessel reports (June 3) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     CNN ACCESS Powell on cautious U.S. role in volatile Mideast     GALLERY Images of the bombing in Tel Aviv     GALLERY Israel mourns after Tel Aviv bombing    AUDIO CNN's Ben Wedeman: Heavy gunfire in Rafah 770K/71 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat condemns Friday's bombing in Tel Aviv 1.3 MB/60 sec. AIFF or WAV sound More audio    RESOURCES Full text of the Mitchell Committee's report (from the Meridian International Center website) Requires Adobe® Acrobat® Reader™ Click here to download the reader.     ALSO Bomber identified as 22-year-old Palestinian Germany leads outrage at Mideast bomb New York rally condems Tel Aviv attack Two airlines cancel flights in wake of bombing

Dennis Ross, for more than 12 years a U.S. envoy directly involved in negotiations in the Middle East and now a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, spoke with CNN's Colleen McEdwards on Monday about the importance of this moment in the peace process.

McEDWARDS: I guess you've been hearing on CNN that there was some sporadic gunfire in Gaza just at the 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.

ROSS: 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.

McEDWARDS: And is Mr. Arafat the person to do that? I mean, how can he control all of these different factions?

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.

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?

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?

McEDWARDS: Ariel Sharon has said that he not only wants the violence to stop, 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.

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.