Israel Persisting With Wide Sweep Despite Bush's Call

JERUSALEM, April 7 — The Israeli government and army indicated today that they intended to carry on with the broad military sweep through the West Bank despite President Bush's calls for the operation to wind down.

"The Palestinian Authority will not fight terrorism, no matter what, and we cannot accept going back to the situation as it was before the operation began," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said before the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, state radio reported. "Israel is at the point of no return, because Yasir Arafat and the Palestinian Authority have no intention of respecting any accord."

At its meeting, the cabinet took no formal decision about the offensive, which the army said today had caused the deaths of about 200 Palestinians since March 29, when the operations began, and had left 1,500 wounded. Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz, the chief of staff, said 13 Israeli soldiers had been killed.

But participants at the meeting reported "overwhelming" support for a continuation of the operation, even if it meant defying President Bush, who on Saturday called on Israel to withdraw from Palestinian-controlled areas "without delay."

"I would say that this is a time in our history when even the arguments of our best friends are not strong enough in comparison with reality," said Natan Sharansky, the minister of housing.