Bush picks Coats, signals preference for treaty with Syria

WASHINGTON — U.S. President-elect George W. Bush has chosen a pro-Israel senator has his defense secretary as the incoming administration appears to be targeting efforts to achieve an Israeli peace with Syria.

Bush is expected to announce on Wednesday his appointment of Daniel Coats, a former Republican senator from Indiana, as secretary of defense. Coats is regarded as a proponent of U.S. strategic relations with Israel and is expected to be a key aide in Middle East policy.

Israeli lobbyists and diplomats in Washington said they were pleased by the apparent choice. They said Coats, 57, will be a key figure in such issues as Middle East weapons sales and defense programs. This includes Israeli efforts to acquire new technology from the United States in anti-missile defense.

The designation of Coats comes as the incoming Bush team is signalling its preference for an Israeli peace treaty with Syria. Aides said this will be more feasible than the current efforts to achieve an accord between Israel and the Palestinians.

Edward Djerejian, who is expected to lead Middle East peace efforts in the Bush administration, said an Israeli-Syrian peace treaty would reduce the prospects of a regional war. Djerejian is a career diplomat who served as both assistant secretary of state and U.S. ambassador to Damascus.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Djerejian criticized the peace approach adopted by the Clinton administration. The former ambassador said President Bill Clinton should not have focused on interim accords between Israel and the Palestinains and said the Bush White House will return to the "land-for-peace" principle, which he called the basis of United Nations resolutions.