JERUSALEM Ñ The United States has pressed Israel to facilitate the
establishment of a Palestinian state in 2004.
Israeli and U.S. diplomatic sources said the Bush administration has
discussed with Israel measures to ensure an interim Palestinian state in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip by mid-2004. The sources said the measures being
proposed include a Palestinian ceasefire in the war against Israel and a
military withdrawal from areas captured in the 1967 war.
"The United States wants a measure of stability over the next year in
the Middle East that would allow for the success of efforts in Iraq," a
diplomatic source said. "This would mean unilateral Israeli measures over
the next few months."
The discussions to renew efforts to establish a Palestinian state began
in November amid the formation of a new government by Palestinian Authority
Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei. The U.S. meetings with Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon and his aides focused on creating conditions for an interim
Palestinian state without PA fulfillment of U.S. demands to dismantle
insurgency groups.
The administration had planned to establish an interim Palestinian state
by the end of 2003. But the collapse of the Palestinian ceasefire in August
and the resignation of then-Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas torpedoed the U.S.
timetable.
Abbas resigned under threats from PA Chairman Yasser
Arafat and his aides in a move that many in the State Department blamed on
Israel. Senior State Department officials said Israel undermined Abbas by
hesitating to withdraw from areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and
failing to ease restrictions on Palestinians.
By November, the sources said, Israel and the United States agreed that
Abbas's successor, Qurei, would not institute democratic reforms or crack
down on insurgency groups. At that point, the administration proposed a
series of meetings with younger-generation Palestinians expected to be
influential in a post-Arafat Palestinian society as well as measures that
would preserve the option of a Palestinian state with permanent borders by
2005.
The administration requested that Israel commit to withdrawing from
large areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, dismantle unauthorized outposts
and refrain from large-scale military operations in PA-controlled territory.
Another request relayed by President George Bush was that Israel maintain
its pledge to safeguard Arafat.
"We also have made clear to the Israelis, as the president has in his
public statements, that they have obligations as well," State Department
spokesman Richard Boucher said on Thursday, "and that we're looking for ways
for the parties to move forward on the roadmap to produce some progress for
the sake of the people on both sides."
Israeli officials said the administration suggested unilateral measures
by the military as early as mid-2003 when Washington was trying to implement
the international plan for a roadmap. The suggestions became more pronounced
after the resignation of Abbas in September and the acceleration of the
security fence.
"We conceded Greater Israel when we accepted the roadmap," Deputy Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert said. "The acceptance of the roadmap meant the
concession of almost all of Judea, Samaria [West Bank] and the Gaza Strip."
The U.S. effort demands an immediate Israeli withdrawal from
unauthorized outposts in the West Bank, the sources said. They said a list
of outposts was discussed between U.S. ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer,
and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz. Kurtzer has insisted that inhabited
outposts be included in the first stage of evacuations.
The administration stressed to Sharon that the United States would
consider other international proposals to end the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict unless the Israeli government launched its own plan to reduce
tension with the Palestinians.
On Friday, Secretary of State Colin Powell plans to welcome the
architects of an Israeli-Palestinian peace program. Former Israeli security
chief Ami Ayalon and Palestinian university chief Sari Nusseibeh will meet
Powell and senior White House officials as part of the U.S. effort to prod
Sharon to launch his own initiative to facilitate a Palestinian state. This
is the second time in as many weeks that Powell has met with Israeli
opposition elements to discuss their peace initiatives.
The sources said the U.S. requests for Israeli unilateral measures were
described as a means to avoid international pressure on the Jewish state
They said Sharon had relayed his commitment to an interim Palestinian state
by July 2004, a timetable meant to coincide with the administration's
intention to form a permanent government in Iraq.
Next week, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom meets Powell and
senior U.S. officials. Shalom is expected to discuss Sharon's plan for
unilateral withdrawal from areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"Israel will have to dismantle outposts and evacuate all of Gaza, even
unilaterally," Ephraim Halevy, the outgoing head of Israel's National
Security Council, said. "We have become resigned to the intervention of
international forces."