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Israel Asked by US to Join Anti-Terrorism Coalition:Sharon
The United States has invited Israel to participate in the proposed anti-terrorism coalition following last Tuesday's unprecedented attacks in America, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon revealed on Monday.
Sharon told Israel's Army Radio that he spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell by phone overnight, in which Powell promised that "if Israel wishes to join, it is certainly invited."
U.S. President George W. Bush is assembling a coalition to " fight against terrorists," specifically those from Islamic radical organizations, who Bush believed were behind the attacks in New York and Washington.
It was reported that while Washington is eagerly trying to invite some Arab states, such as Syria and Iran, into the coalition to fully isolate its prime target, Afghanistan's Taliban movement, the U.S. is reluctant to ask Israel to join due to Israel's bad image in the Arab world.
Israel has occupied the Palestinians' West Bank and Gaza Strip since the 1967 Mideast war and it has clashed with the Palestinians for nearly a year since last September. More than 800 people, most of them Palestinians, have been killed in the violence.
In an interview with Israel's Jerusalem Post daily, which was published on Monday for marking the Jewish New Year on Tuesday, Sharon said: "Will Israel be a factor in the coalition? We are not building the coalition - we are willing to help."
Sharon also told Army Radio that the U.S. should condition Syria's inclusion into such a coalition on that the Muslim state stops hosting militant groups against Israel.
The hawkish prime minister urged the U.S. to prevent Syria from joining the United Nations' Security Council, if Syria refuses to " expel terrorist groups."
On whether Washington, in building such a coalition, may push Israel to the side or even urge Israel to make concessions regarding the relations with the Palestinians, Sharon said: "I have made it clear to the (U.S.) administration, as well as to a list of countries in Europe, that while stability in the Middle East is important to them and is very important to Israel, we will not pay the price for that stability. We will simply not pay for it."
"If you ask me whether Israel will make concessions so that one Arab country or another will take part in the coalition, the answer is an emphatic NO," Sharon added.
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