The Bush administration has determined that plans to
establish an independent Palestinian state over the next three years have
been hampered by the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, collapse of the
security services and a weak Palestinian Authority.
Officials said the
administration would instead seek to strengthen the PA and stabilize
Palestinian society through massive aid and development.
President George Bush, speaking after a meeting with PA
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, suggested that a Palestinian state would not be
established during his term of office, which ends in 2009.
As late as March 2005, the administration was discussing the launch of final status talks
between Israel and the PA in 2006 and the formal establishment of a
Palestinian state, with sovereign air space and territorial waters, by 2008.
Bush said he would name a new coordinator to monitor and help bolster
the PA security services, Middle East Newsline reported. The first such coordinator, Gen. William Ward, has
been appointed to a senior defense position.
"I'd like to see two states," Bush said in a joint news conference with
Abbas. "And if it happens before I get out of office, I'll be there to
witness the ceremony. And if doesn't, we will work hard to lay that
foundation so that the process becomes irreversible."
"There are a lot of steps that both sides need to achieve in order to
get to that ultimate goal [of a Palestinian state]," State Department
spokesman Sean McCormack said on Thursday.
Officials said Bush has been disappointed with Abbas's failure to impose
order in wake of the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. They said Bush
would continue to support the 70-year-old Abbas while encouraging democratic
elections and reform measures that could result in a viable and
authoritative leadership.
"One thing that will not happen is that the United States will try to
conform and force parties to make decisions based upon the political
schedule in America," Bush said. "That doesn't make any sense."
"This person will take on an enhanced mission to help President Abbas
and the Palestinian Authority carry out their responsibility to end terror
attacks, dismantle terrorist infrastructure, maintain law and order, and one
day provide security for their own state," Bush said.
Officials said the administration would continue to press Israel to
bolster Abbas and lay the foundations of a Palestinian state. They said this
would include an Israeli withdrawal from most
of the West Bank, approval of weapons for PA security forces and freedom of
movement for Palestinians between the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"Israel must continue to work with Palestinian leaders to help improve
the daily lives of Palestinians," Bush said. "At the same time, Israel
should not undertake any activity that contravenes its road map obligations
or prejudices the final status negotiations with regard to Gaza, the West
Bank and Jerusalem."
Analysts said Bush appears to have withdrawn from direct involvement in
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Instead, the president has been
preoccupied by domestic issues, including the reconstruction of New Orleans
in wake of Hurricane Katrina as well as the indictment of his key aides.
"Bush is experiencing the most difficult period of his presidency,"
Marco Vicenzino, executive director of the Global Strategy Project, said,
"with declining public support over Iraq, the consequences of Katrina,
mounting dissatisfaction in his political base over Supreme Court
nominations and the possibility of indictments of key White House personnel,
specifically his closest political adviser, Karl Rove. This will certainly
complicate his ability to address pressing international issues."
