The United States plans to press Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon to demonstrate his support for the establishment of a Palestinian
state during 2003.
Officials said the Secretary of State Colin Powell plans to resume talks
with Israel and the Palestinians to advance both sides toward an agreement
on an interim Palestinian state over the next year. They said the U.S.
effort had been suspended over the last two months so as not to disrupt the
Israeli elections.
Powell's first task, officials said, is to discuss with Sharon his view
of a Palestinian state and ensure that Israel takes measures toward that
goal. The secretary has expressed dissatisfaction with Sharon's vision of a
demilitarized Palestinian state linked to the termination of rule by
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
"You have to do more to deal with the humanitarian concerns of the
Palestinian people," Powell told the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland earlier this week. "And you have to understand that a
Palestinian state, when it's created, must be a real state, not a phony
state that's diced into a thousand different pieces."
Last month, the United States rejected Israel's efforts to amend a plan
by Washington, the United Nations, European Union and Russia for a
Palestinian state. Sharon had sought to delay such issues as a settlement
freeze, future of Jerusalem and Israeli withdrawal until the cessation of
the current Israeli-Palestinian war.
Officials said the State Department would seek to focus on the so-called
roadmap toward a Palestinian state as the Bush administration and Congress
review an Israeli request for $14 billion in emergency economic and military
aid. Most of the aid request is comprised of U.S. loan guarantees.
Sharon, who was victorious in national elections on Tuesday, has warned
that he expects ministers of his next government to support the
establishment of a Palestinian state. Several senior Likud ministers said
they would not agree to this condition.
The Likud won 37 out of 120 seats in the Knesset, Israel's media
reported on Wednesday. The Labor Party won 19 seats and the secular-oriented
Shinui Party won 15 seats.
The Shas Party, an Orthodox Jewish movement, won 11 seats, the National
Union, 7, the left-wing Meretz, 6, the National Religious Party and the
United Torah Front, five. Three Arab-dominated parties won a total of nine
seats.
In his victory speech, Sharon called for a coalition of all Zionist
parties. But Labor Party
spokespeople said they plan to enter the opposition.
"I can assure Sharon that when it comes to security issues, we will
provide him with an ideal safety net [to assure support in the Knesset],"
Labor parliamentarian Shalom Simhon said.