Reactions to Bush's Mideast proposals

(CNN) -- Here are some reactions Monday to President Bush's proposals to reduce tensions in the Middle East:

"Yasser Arafat ... expressed his welcome to the ideas that were presented today by President George W. Bush, and sees them as serious contributions to move the peace process forward. The Palestinian leadership and President Arafat hope that the necessary details to assure the success of these ideas will be discussed in the direct and bilateral meetings with the American administration and with consultation with Committee of Four and Arab brothers."

-- Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, in a prepared statement

"Israel is a country that wants peace ... The prime minister has said several times that when there would be a complete cessation of terror, violence and incitement and the Palestinian Authority undergoes true reform and will be headed by a new leadership so that a different authority will be created, it will be possible to discuss advancing on the political level."

-- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in a prepared statement

Erakat

"I cannot find President Bush's statements on new leadership and so on acceptable. ... President Arafat is the president of the Palestinian people. He is the one who led the Palestinians to the path of peace. I think that as far as Sharon is concerned, and the Israelis are concerned, I think they could care less whether the Palestinians are ruled by the Boy Scouts or Attila the Hun ... I don't think that Palestinian leaders come from parachutes from Washington or from anyone else. Palestinian leaders are elected directly by the Palestinian people. President Arafat was directly elected in a free and fair election, he is the leader of the Palestinian people, and he has called for new elections next year. President Arafat is the elected leader of the Palestinian people, and this must be respected."

-- Saeb Erakat, chief Palestinian negotiator

Barak

"I believe it's [a] really good speech that will set the standard. However, the real challenge will be to [U.S. Secretary of State] Colin Powell, to be able to bring the Europeans, the U.N. and Russia to agree with it without a single crack, since if a single crack will appear, Yasser Arafat will enter into it and crack the whole system ... if he sees this united front telling him the same [thing] -- 'We are here to help you achieve the aspirations of the Palestinian people, but you are going to have to take some personal consequences and let it [go] forward' -- it is the only chance. If he will see any crack he will not hesitate for a moment to humiliate both the secretary and even the president and get away with some smoke screen and turn back to terror."

-- Ehud Barak, former Israeli prime minister

Sha'ath

"The president is saying that change of leadership can only take place by the Palestinians themselves -- that the United States is not the agent of changing the Palestinian leadership. Only the Palestinian people can do that. I accept that. President Arafat accepts that as well. ... When [Bush] talked about requirements for peace, he included on the Israeli side every one of those elements that we would like to see. From the present day -- ending settlements, ending occupation, ending siege, ending humiliation -- to the long term -- the borders of 1967, ending occupation, an independent Palestinian state, a just solution of the refugee problem and of the Jerusalem problem. All together, his requirements for peace are something we can live with."

-- Nabil Sha'ath, Palestinian spokesman

Gold

"The president made it very clear: You can't have Palestinian leadership tainted with terrorism. For the last two months we've been running around the world with documents we took from Arafat's offices ... in Ramallah which clearly prove without question that Yasser Arafat financed and supported terrorism. We need new Palestinian leadership. We need a different Palestinian Authority, one that understands the standards which President Bush established. Are you with us or against us? Are you opposing terrorism or do you support terrorism? He's saying to the Palestinian people, 'Drop the terrorism, you can't advance your political interests that way.' And then we can all do business."

-- Dore Gold, Israeli government spokesman

"I think the president has once again shown incredible leadership. He has stated very clearly, with moral clarity, that the terrorism has to stop, that terrorists cannot run the Palestinian Authority, they have to bring reforms, and he understands that the Palestinian people need hope and prosperity for the future. He's laid out a plan to do that. He's not going back to the old, failed peace process that allowed Arafat to come into Israel, build terrorist organizations, and now he's using them."

-- Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, House minority whip

"The issue of who should lead the Palestinian people is one that only the Palestinian people themselves can decide. ... President Arafat was chosen freely by the Palestinian people in elections that were widely welcomed by the international community in 1996. He remains their leader and it will be up to them to decide through fresh elections already announced who will lead them in the future."

-- Fred Eckhard, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan