Colin Powell: 'Words aren't enough any longer'

Powell: "Now we need to see action."

(CNN) -- A series of suicide bombings over the weekend in the Israeli cities of Jerusalem and Haifa have been widely condemned, and Israel is blaming Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat for failing to control Palestinian militants. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed the situation with CNN Sunday.

CNN: The Palestinian Authority has just issued a statement in the name of Yasser Arafat saying that any faction, coalition or party within the Palestinian community that does not respect the decision of the Palestinian leadership will be considered beyond the law, especially those who claim responsibility for actions against Israeli civilians.

What do you make of the reaction of the Palestinians so far?

POWELL: Well, it's a good statement. Now we need to see action. Statements aren't enough any longer, words aren't enough any longer.

I spoke to Chairman Arafat last night right after the first bombing in Jerusalem but before Haifa, and I made it clear to him that he had to act because not only was this a terrible attack against innocent Israelis, a terrible act of terror, but it was also an attack against him, it was an attack against his authority, it was an attack against Palestinian leadership, and it was an attack that he could not overlook.

So he had to do it not only because it was the right thing to do when you have this kind of murderous action, but he had to do it if he was going to remain in a position of authority and have authority over the Palestinian people and to perform his job as the leader of the Palestinian people.

And this statement reflects his understanding of that position. And he responded to me in kind last night, saying that he understood that and that it was an attack against him. And he expressed his condolences for the loss of Israeli life, but it was an attack against him, he was going to respond accordingly.

Words aren't enough. We now have to see action.

CNN: Well, when you say the United States wants action, specifically what do you want Arafat to do?

POWELL: One, find out who else is responsible besides those who killed themselves for these attacks last night. Bring them to justice, arrest them and keep them in jail. Not just arrest, and then [they disappear] and [are] back into the street in a few days time.

VIDEO CNN's Jerrold Kessel has more on continuing Mideast violence and its effect on the peace process (December 2) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

But more than that, he has to go after future perpetrators. He has to go after these organizations that are training and preparing these suicide bombers and preparing for further future acts of violence. This is what he has to do.

And he has the go after these organizations that are taking credit for these kinds of actions.

And as he said in his statement, he is going after those who are outside or beyond the law. He's absolutely right. You cannot have a legitimate authority such as the Palestinian Authority, where you have people answerable to that authority acting outside any reasonable standards of law, any reasonable standards of civilized behavior. CNN: So you want him to shut down, specifically, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad?

POWELL: I think he should shut down and go after all those organizations, as he has said, that may be acting beyond his authority and the law that they have created within the Palestinian Authority. He has to go after them.

CNN: But which organizations are you specifically referring to?

POWELL: I'm referring to those responsible for these actions and those who take credit for these actions. Hamas is one; Palestinian Islamic Jihad is another. He has to deal with these organizations.

CNN: Well the Israelis say that even Arafat's own Fatah faction has been responsible for terrorist actions against the ...

POWELL: If there is evidence that -- of the kind that is described by the Israelis -- then I think he has to act on it. It's time for him to act. It's a moment of truth for him.

The United States is willing to help. We put down a comprehensive statement of the United States position. We sent Gen. [Anthony] Zinni, a retired Marine, to go over there to help the two sides start to move forward toward a cease-fire.

Until you get this violence down, down preferably to zero, but until you get it down, you don't have a basis of confidence for the two sides to get into a cease-fire and start the confidence-building measures of the Mitchell Plan and get to negotiations.

At the end of the day, we must see negotiations or else this problem will never be solved. But you won't get to those negotiations as long as you have people who are willing to commit acts of terror to keep you from getting into the Mitchell Plan, who don't want to see negotiations [and] are just interested in terror and violence. And that's what has to be brought under control.

CNN: As you know, the Israelis want the Palestinians to arrest hundreds, if not thousands, of what they claim are terrorists who have been on the loose in the West Bank in Gaza. Is that what the United States wants, as well?

POWELL: I don't know what the numbers are, if it's hundreds of thousands.

I think the Palestinians have to do a much better job of finding those who are planning acts of terror. And to the extent that the Israelis can provide information to the Palestinians, or Palestinians can generate that information themselves, they have to act on that information and not just receive it and sort of look at the list.

They have to go after people who are known terrorists, who are known to be planning such acts. That's the demand that the Israelis have put down. And in accordance with what Mr. Arafat said this morning, he is making the same demand on his own people, that these kinds of individuals who are acting beyond the law have to be brought within the law. That means arresting those who are planning such activities.

CNN: The Israeli government is under enormous pressure right now to respond. It may be too late. What are you specifically asking the Israeli government to do in delaying some sort of retaliation?

POWELL: We haven't spoken to the Israeli government. That will take place in the course of the morning. Prime Minister [Ariel] Sharon and the president will be getting together and we will hear from Mr. Sharon his assessment of the situation. And I'm sure it will be a very difficult meeting, but it's a meeting we have to have.

Mr. Sharon is a freely elected leader of a democratic nation and he will respond in a way that he thinks is appropriate.

What we always say is always consider what happens the day after and the day after that, because ultimately we have to try to get to a situation where the two sides are talking about ending violence, and you always have to consider the day after.

What we have seen now with 14 months of intifada, and with the new leadership in Israel for the last nine or 10 months, is that we have not yet begun to get the violence under control in the way that the two sides can move forward into a plan that is sitting there waiting to be executed that will lead us back to negotiations.

CNN: The former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last night that Yasser Arafat is not using his power to work against terrorists and questioned whether Arafat can control the Palestinians himself. What do you think of that?

POWELL: I agree with Mr. Netanyahu to the extent that Mr. Arafat can be doing more. And I have spoken to him about this directly. He needs to use all the authority that he has. He needs to use the security intelligence, other forces available to him to get after this problem.

CNN: But the Palestinians respond by saying that as long as there's an Israeli occupation and settlements and Israeli soldiers using military force, there are going to be desperate actions by desperate people.

POWELL: I know that the Palestinian people are very angry and very frustrated. I know the conditions under which they are living are very difficult -- there's 50 percent unemployment. I understand all of that. But to understand all of that says now we've got to act. And the United States has made it clear that the occupation is a problem, settlements are a problem. But we're not going to get to a solution by just trading charges and giving justifications for anger.

There is no justification for using a car bomb against innocent children, young people, out for a nice evening. There is no justification. No level of anger or frustration can be used to justify that kind of act.

And so rather than just exchanging these arguments, what we need to do is sit down. And that's why we sent Gen. Zinni over there with Assistant Secretary [of State William] Burns to get these people to sit down, security people to sit down, and begin to take those steps that will lead us toward a cease-fire.