WASHINGTON Ñ U.S. officials said President George Bush is alarmed by the prospect that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could endanger the offensive against Saudi fugitive Osama Bin Laden and his Afghan Taliban supporters.

The officials said the White House is concerned that the Israeli incursion into Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank could topple the Palestinian Authority and prompt an Arab and Islamic backlash that would damage the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan.

At the same time, the officials said Bush has pressed PA Chairman Yasser Arafat to end attacks on Israel and arrest suspected terrorists. Officials said Bush sent a harsh letter to Arafat demanding that he arrest the assassins of former Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi. They said Arafat appears to be responding to the pressure over the last few days, Middle East Newsline reported.

The State Department, the officials said, has assessed that the Israeli military campaign in six West Bank cities could topple the PA. They said this has been the warning from such U.S. allies as Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The Israeli attacks will be discussed at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.

"Israeli incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas have contributed to a significant escalation and tension and violence," State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker said. "The government of Israel has told us that it does not intend to remain in those areas. Israeli defense forces should be withdrawn immediately from all Palestinian-controlled areas and no further such incursions should be made."

On Monday, the United States demanded that Israeli troops leave the PA-controlled cities and end incursions into Palestinian areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The demand was issued on the eve of a meeting between Secretary of State Colin Powell and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.

Israeli officials said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had expected the harsh U.S. response. The officials said Sharon as well as Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer are determined to maintain Israeli troops in their current positions until the PA extradites the killers of a former Israeli minister last week.

A government statement released on Tuesday rejected the U.S. demand. The statement said the assassination of former Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi marked the crossing of a red line. Later, government sources said the PA helped the killers of Ze'evi escape from Jerusalem to Bethlehem.

"There is clearly a disagreement here [with the United States]," Israeli minister Danny Naveh said. "In the end, the Israeli war against terrorism will also serve the United States. Until today, Yasser Arafat has deceived the United States."

On late Monday, nearly 100,000 Israelis attended a demonstration in Jerusalem that called for the elimination of the PA. Hours later, a Hamas leader in the West Bank city of Kalkilya was assassinated and an Islamic Jihad commander in the Hebron area was abducted by Israeli commandos.

On Tuesday, thousands of Palestinians including clergy from Bethlehem and Jerusalem demonstrated in Bethlehem against the continued presence of Israeli troops and tanks in the city.

In Jerusalem, Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer reiterated that Israeli troops would not be permanently deployed in the West Bank cities.

"We have no intention to remain in Zone A," Ben-Eliezer said. "But we will bodily defend against suicide attackers from Zone A."

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