WASHINGTON-AL QUDS: The Bush administration is putting pressure on Israel to make concessions in an attempt to re-start the Middle East process after the Iraq war, diplomats and officials said in Washington on Thursday.
A delegation sent by the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, went to the White House on Monday armed with 14 suggested amendments to an internationally brokered peace plan — the “road map” — but was told no changes would be made before its formal presentation to both sides.
“It was a straightforward ‘no’,” said one official in the US capital.
An Israeli official al conceded that there would be no changes before the road map — drawn up last year by the quartet of the US, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations — is made public, probably later this month. But he pointed out that President Bush had invited opinions from both sides after its publication.
However, the official insisted that Israel was ready to make concessions to make the most of the “opportunity for peace” offered by the emergence of Abu Mazen, a moderate, as the Palestinian prime minister.
Mr Sharon told the New York Times newspaper on Thursday that he was ready to meet Abu Mazen who he said “understands that you cannot break Israel by terror”.
The New York Times reported on Thursday that Israel is being asked to consider a troop withdrawal from some Palestinian areas and an easing of checkpoints and travel restrictions on Palestinian citizens, in response to Palestinian reforms.
The road map will be presented to Israeli and Palestinian leaders once Abu Mazen’s cabinet is confirmed by the Palestinian legislature, which US officials hope will come before the end of the month.
In that case, the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, is likely to meet him on his forthcoming Middle East tour, marking the launch of the peace initiative.
In a joint communique from Athens on Thursday EU leaders demanded that Mr Arafat and the legislative council give the cabinet “an early endorsement”.
In an apparent division of labour, while European leaders put pressure on Mr Arafat the Bush administration presented a united front to Israeli officials.
When a delegation led by Dov Weisglass, Mr Sharon’s chief of staff, went to the White House on Monday to present Israeli objections to the road map, it was met not only by Mr Powell and the national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, but by Mr Sharon’s closest US allies. Those allies included Douglas Feith, the undersecretary of defence for policy, and Lewis Libby, Vice-President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff.
Diplomats in Washington said the big turnout was intended to send a message — that Israel would not be able to exploit the administration’s internal divisions.
Britain views the coming period between the Iraq war and the launch of the US presidential election campaign in September as a narrow window of opportunity for an attempt to restart comprehensive peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis. London would like to see the US mount a concerted Middle East initiative comparable to the Madrid conference that followed the 1991 Gulf war, and appoint a high-profile special envoy to ensure that the road map, which envisages a three-phased transition to a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza by 2005, is implemented.
One possible candidate would be James Baker, who was secretary of state under President Bush’s father.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service.
