The Bush administration is being advised to review its Middle East policy, particularly regarding the Palestinian Authority.

A report by the Washington-based Heritage Foundation said the United States must reverse the policies set under the former Clinton administration, which supported Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. The report said Arafat is not a credible partner for peace negotiations and has aligned himself with Iran.

The administration should reduce expectations and focus on ending the Israeli-PA war, said the report, authored by researcher James Phillips.

"Washington must fundamentally rethink the flawed appeasement policy that has raised Palestinian expectations, whetted ArafatÕs appetite for concessions, and led the Oslo negotiating process into a diplomatic dead end," the report said. "The peace negotiations can be salvaged only by rigorously holding the Palestinian Authority to its Oslo commitments and ending Palestinian terrorism and mob thuggery."

The report said the administration should not support the PA until it ends attacks on Israel. If this can't be achieved, the report said, the administration should crack down on the Palestinian leadership.

"If Arafat refuses to end his incitement to violence and support of terrorism, Washington should break relations with the Palestinian Authority, close the PAÕs office in Washington, and seek to isolate it diplomatically," the report said.

The report also urged the administration to block any campaign to deploy international peacekeepers in the Israeli-PA war. Phillips said previous peacekeeping efforts by the United Nations in the Middle East have failed. "They brought a false sense of security but did nothing to ease the conflict," the report said. "Israelis naturally want to retain responsibility for their own security in the face of continued Palestinian terrorism."

A congressional study released on Tuesday in Washington said the Bush administration appears to have targeted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein for assassination. The report, entitled "Iraq: U.S. Efforts to Change the Regime," did not envision a military campaign against Iraq over the next few months.

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