Bush picks Coats, signals preference for treaty with Syria
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, December 21, 2000
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.
Thursday, December 21, 2000
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