[Over the weekend, Palestinian gunners continued to launch
surface-to-surface and anti-tank missile fire into Israel, Middle East Newsline reported. At least one
Israeli soldier was injured on Saturday as Israel responded with air strikes
against Hamas installations in the Gaza Strip.]
Officials said the administration does not intend to suspend the U.S.
plan to establish a Palestinian state by 2009. They said such efforts were
expected by Saudi Arabia and the European Union.
"The No. 1 item on the president's agenda is Iraq, and No. 2 is probably
the Iranian nuclear threat," the official said. "This doesn't leave a whole
lot of time left for anything else. But the situation could change rapidly
and we are prepared for this."
On May 10, Deputy National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams told a
private meeting of Jewish Republicans that the administration did not expect
a breakthrough toward an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord. Abrams, in a
meeting chaired by House Deputy Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor, said the
U.S. diplomatic effort was meant to show its Arab and European allies that
Washington was not abandoning the Palestinian issue.
"The gist of his comments was that what we are seeing is the State
Department going through the motions," a participant in the meeting said.
In 2005, President George Bush appointed Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice to be responsible for U.S. relations with Israel and the PA. Ms. Rice
monitors the region nearly daily and has been promoting a plan to facilitate
Palestinian movement, bolster Abbas's security forces and end Palestinian
missile strikes on Israel.
Ms. Rice's plan, drafted by U.S. security envoy Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton,
has been criticized by pro-Israeli Republicans as unfeasible amid the Hamas
takeover of the Gaza Strip. Early this month, the secretary canceled a May
15 trip to Israel and the PA to discuss the plan.
