Bush to Threaten Palestine over Failed Peace Plan?
Bush to push Israel, PA for progress before his May visit 16 March 2008
By Barak Ravid
Washington is likely to pressure Israel and the Palestinian Authority to make significant diplomatic progress before U.S. President George W. Bush visits the region in May, a senior American official predicted.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to return here in about 10 days, her second visit this month. She will urge both parties to fulfill their obligations under the road map peace plan and advance on final-status talks.
The president's visit in May is intended to take action and achieve results, and therefore, the administration is interested in seeing some progress on the Palestinian issue," the U.S. official said. "Bush does not intend to act like a lame duck, so something has to happen on the ground by the time of the president's visit."
The State Department is considering various steps that could be taken to demonstrate progress. In particular, it would like Israel to start evacuating illegal settlement outposts, which Bush deems very important. The U.S. has been disappointed by Israel's inaction and its refrain of "we are still negotiating with the settlers."
Another option is moving parts of the separation fence from the West Bank to the Green Line.
Yet another is enacting a law to compensate settlers who leave the West Bank voluntarily. The American official said that while the U.S. is not intervening in this matter, it believes such a law would demonstrate Israel's seriousness about a two-state solution.
"The U.S. does want to force any steps on Israel; rather, it wants Israel to decide for itself what it can do," he said.
Yesterday, Rice lambasted both Israel and the PA.
"Frankly, not nearly enough has happened to demonstrate that the Israelis and the Palestinians fully understand ... that without following road map obligations and without improvements on the ground, it's very hard to sustain this process," she told reporters en route to Chile. "There is a lot of room for improvement on both sides."
The senior American official said, "The current Israeli approach to daily Palestinian life strengthens Hamas in Gaza." The administration is working to address Israel's security concerns, he added, but Israel must also do its part.
"You can't eat security, you also need an economy," he said. "For this to happen, Israel has to enable things to happen."
On Friday, a tripartite committee to monitor implementation of the road map held its first meeting in Jerusalem. The meeting, chaired by U.S. General William Fraser, was attended by PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad. The PA slammed Defense Minister Ehud Barak for sending a subordinate in his place.
Fraser said he would work with both sides on a plan to implement their road map obligations: for the PA, fighting terror; for Israel, freezing settlements, evacuating outposts and removing roadblocks. He said fulfilling these obligations would take a year or two.
Washington is likely to pressure Israel and the Palestinian Authority to make significant diplomatic progress before U.S. President George W. Bush visits the region in May, a senior American official predicted.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to return here in about 10 days, her second visit this month. She will urge both parties to fulfill their obligations under the road map peace plan and advance on final-status talks.
The president's visit in May is intended to take action and achieve results, and therefore, the administration is interested in seeing some progress on the Palestinian issue," the U.S. official said. "Bush does not intend to act like a lame duck, so something has to happen on the ground by the time of the president's visit."
The State Department is considering various steps that could be taken to demonstrate progress. In particular, it would like Israel to start evacuating illegal settlement outposts, which Bush deems very important. The U.S. has been disappointed by Israel's inaction and its refrain of "we are still negotiating with the settlers."
Another option is moving parts of the separation fence from the West Bank to the Green Line.
Yet another is enacting a law to compensate settlers who leave the West Bank voluntarily. The American official said that while the U.S. is not intervening in this matter, it believes such a law would demonstrate Israel's seriousness about a two-state solution.
"The U.S. does want to force any steps on Israel; rather, it wants Israel to decide for itself what it can do," he said.
Yesterday, Rice lambasted both Israel and the PA.
"Frankly, not nearly enough has happened to demonstrate that the Israelis and the Palestinians fully understand ... that without following road map obligations and without improvements on the ground, it's very hard to sustain this process," she told reporters en route to Chile. "There is a lot of room for improvement on both sides."
The senior American official said, "The current Israeli approach to daily Palestinian life strengthens Hamas in Gaza." The administration is working to address Israel's security concerns, he added, but Israel must also do its part.
"You can't eat security, you also need an economy," he said. "For this to happen, Israel has to enable things to happen."
On Friday, a tripartite committee to monitor implementation of the road map held its first meeting in Jerusalem. The meeting, chaired by U.S. General William Fraser, was attended by PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad. The PA slammed Defense Minister Ehud Barak for sending a subordinate in his place.
Fraser said he would work with both sides on a plan to implement their road map obligations: for the PA, fighting terror; for Israel, freezing settlements, evacuating outposts and removing roadblocks. He said fulfilling these obligations would take a year or two.
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Labels: Bush, Crime, International Law, Judaism, Palestine, United States
posted by HRM Deborah of Israel and the Messenger of Peace at 7:18 PM
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